Phantom of Erebor
by ThePhantominthemists
Summary: Mary and her family are half-breeds chased from one home after another. When Mary decides to enter Erebor to steal sustenance for her family, she winds up running afoul of the King under the Mountain. Will this lead to a better life for her family or will Mary let an incident from her past prevent her from finding happiness? AU. My first fan fic, please review. ThorinXOC, post BOFA
1. (1) The Thief

Mary sat astride her pony, scanning the land ahead, her hazel eyes missing nothing. On a misty morning like today, she could easily be mistaken for a phantom. Dressed all in gray and riding a dappled gray pony. Only her long, dark, red hair, braided to just below her shoulder blades, gave her away. She was scouting ahead; making sure the road was safe for her family, who were following about two miles behind. She had volunteered to scout ahead, impatient with the covered wagon that was moving slower than usual, due to the muddy roads.

She never got too far ahead, knowing her parents would worry. These lands, some twenty miles southeast of the city of Dale, were not the safest. Orcs were known to roam these parts, but Mary had learned the hard way to never be caught unarmed. She was well prepared, armed with a bow and arrows at her side, elfish long blades on her back, small throwing knives on her belt, and four poisoned daggers in her boots, she was ready to defend her family and herself at a moments notice.

A cold wind blew up the hill, off of the lake that she had just reached. She pulled her worn cloak closer around her. It was late February, not the best time of year for traveling, but since the incident in the Iron Hills three years ago, her family had been constantly on the move. Just thinking about it made the large scar on her back burn. Mary shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. She turned around and rode back to meet up with the others. A decision needed to be made. Mary knew which way she wanted to go and was thinking of how to convince everyone, when the sound of the wagon coming up the road broke her thoughts.

Her step-father must have gotten the tired ponies pulling the covered wagon to go faster than was expected, they had caught up to Mary faster then she had anticipated. Donald, her older brother, rode up to her. "What's it look like ahead?" he asked.

"We have reached the southeastern shores of the Long Lake," Mary replied, "But a decision needs to be made."

Donald looked at her and nodded. Their younger brother, Joseph, rode up then, and Donald told him Mary's report. Facially, they resembled each other, but that was where the similarities ended. Donald was short and stocky, favoring their dwarf ancestors. Joseph was taller and thinner, favoring their elf ancestors. Mary, however, seemed to be a combination of both. Both brothers had brown hair and all three siblings had fair skin and hazel eyes. It was their hazel eyes that gave away the small trace of human ancestry in their bloodline. They were, as they referred to it, people of mixed race. But more crude people referred to them as half-breeds.

All three turned and rode back to the waiting wagon. Mary's pony, Silver Mist, nickered to the ponies pulling the covered wagon. Mary's mother and step-father were on the front seat, her step-father at the reins. He was human with black hair and brown eyes. A kind man who did what he could for his family, having raised her from a young age, her father having died years before, Mary knew she could trust and respect him.

Mary looked at her parents and said, "A decision needs to be made. We could try to find a ferry to take us across the lake to Esgaroth and hope they will help us, or we can go with my plan."

"Going into Erebor and stealing is suicide, Mary!" Mother exclaimed; a short, stocky woman with graying black hair and hazel eyes- like her eldest son, she favored their dwarf ancestors.

"Aunt Mary!" a little voice called from the wagon. Three little faces looked out from behind her parents, her nephews and niece.

"It's alright, Kaylee; Nana and I are just talking," Mary said.

Mary's heart constricted at seeing how thin the children were getting. Ever since the incident in the Iron Hills, finding and keeping work had been difficult.

"Mom, we need food and gold to barter safe passage through Mirkwood," Mary said. "You know I hate stealing, but I will not sit here and watch my family starve when there is something I can do!"

"What if you get caught?!" Mother argued. "From what I hear, Thorin Oakenshield is not merciful when it comes to thieves!"

"Then I will just have to not get caught!" Mary answered flippantly.

"Why don't we stop here, make some breakfast and discuss this," Joseph broke in.

Mary ground her teeth. While she could thank her elfish ancestors for her keen eyesight and lightness of foot, it was from her dwarf side that she got her temper. "Make breakfast with what!" she yelled. "We have no meat, only a few moldering vegetables and that's it! We finished the last of the lembas and can look to get no more for quite awhile!" Mary dismounted and loosened Silver Mist's girths so she could graze while the family decided what to do. "I can be in and out in a couple of hours," she said. "I will only take some food and enough coin to get us through Mirkwood. Hopefully the magistrate's lies will stay on this side of the forest and we can find work and somewhere to settle until it is easier to travel and join Christine in Bree," Mary finished.

Christine, the eldest of the four siblings, had left the Iron Hills the year before the incident and when she had heard of it had invited her family to join her and her fiancé. She said Bree was accepting of all races, including something called a Hobbit.

"I still don't like it," said Donald. "If it comes to fighting your way out, Joseph or I would be better off going."

Mary looked at him and snorted, "Joseph is too tall and slender to pass as a dwarf and if one of us is to get caught, you have your wife and kids to take care of. You could survive without me for a while," Mary said.

"Survive without you? Kaylee barely sleeps if you are not in the wagon!" Donald's wife Kaylah said, opening the back flaps of the wagon cover and sticking her head out. She had red hair, a couple of shades lighter than Mary's, bright green eyes, and fair skin. Being half elf and half dwarf she fit in perfectly with the rest of the family.

The reminder of what had happened burned the back of Mary's throat like bile. Kaylee had watched her aunt almost die before running to find help. That she had been involved in and witnessed the incident pained Mary deeply. Mary understood her niece's fears.

"Mary, I don't like the idea of you taking such a risk," Father said. "But I can see there is actually no other way."

Mary looked at him in surprise; he had been the most vocal one against the plan.

"Tommy!" Mother exclaimed.

"Kathy, she is either going to do this with our help or without it, you know our daughter. She's too stubborn!" Father explained. Everyone looked at Father and knew the decision had been made

**oOo**

The family reached the city of Dale a couple of hours after mid-day. As a part of the plan, Mary split off from the others and found an open meadow on the southwestern side of the Lonely Mountain; the dwarf city of Erebor was built deep within the mountain. Her family stopped in Dale and purchased what little food they could with the little coin they had left so as to get them through the day until Mary returned, hopefully successful. They did not stay in the city though, knowing that their thinness and the poor condition of their ponies would draw unwanted attention, so they moved down the road to the southwest to await Mary's return.

As part of the plan, Mary loosened Silver Mist's girths, switched her bridle for a halter, and left her to graze and rest, having been trained to return at Mary's two note whistle.

Mary then put on a dwarfish dress over her tunic and trousers, tying her quiver containing her bow and arrows down to her leg. She then put on her cloak and wrapped a thin, black scarf around the lower portion of her face, pulled up her hood and headed back into Dale on foot. Knowing her hazel eyes would ruin her disguise as a dwarf woman- only humans had that eye color- she kept the front of her hood pulled low over her face.

Mary waited until she saw a sizable group of dwarf women leave the market in Dale and head back towards the mountain. All of the women had scarfs wrapped around their faces against the cold, so Mary blended in well. Walking with the other women, she was able to pick-up bits and pieces of information. King Thorin was back from a trip and his cousin, Lord Balin of Moria had returned with him for a visit. Most of the chatter went on and on about how the king needed to settle down and marry. Mary rolled her eyes at this and moved away, not wanting to hear anymore.

As the group approached the gate into Erebor, Mary got a strange feeling. Her Grandmother called it The Intuition. She claimed that the gift of foresight ran in the elvish part of their family, but, since they were not full elf, all that was left was The Intuition and it had saved Mary's life several times. This feeling was not a warning of danger though, it was the feeling she got when she was about to meet someone or find something that would become very important later on. But since it was not a warning of danger, she pushed it aside. Nobody stopped the women as they hurried inside out of the cold and Mary just slipped right on in with them.

"I'm in," she thought standing there looking around and smiling. "That was easier than expected."

"Wait a minute," a man called.

Mary froze, certain she was caught already, but the man just pushed past her to touch the shoulder of an older man on her other side, nearly knocking her down. He grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.

"Excuse me, I apologize," he said.

Mary looked up and into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. He had long, dark, brown hair and, strangely, a short beard. Most dwarf men had beards so long they could tuck them in their belts. Their eyes locked for a second and The Intuition slammed through her again, this time more forcefully. Mary did not understand what this man had to do with her and did not have time to, as a confused look started to spread across those blue eyes.

Mary quickly pulled away and ducked her head.

"No harm done," she said, then quickly hurried away, feeling his confused stare on her back until she rounded a corner. Calling herself all kinds of idiot, she knew two things: One- she had just met what was possibly the handsomest man she had ever seen and Two- he had been close enough to see her eyes. That was most likely the reason for his confusion. No dwarf had hazel eyes.

**oOo**

Mary had arrived in Erebor earlier than expected, the time being only four in the evening. She scouted around, trying to look busy and not draw any attention to herself. After she was sure of the way to go, she went and hid in a storage room next to the kitchens, thanking Durin and the Valar that she had not run in the dwarf man with the blue eyes again.

She hid behind some large crates and decided to get some sleep while she could. Taking off the dwarfish dress, she sat down with her back to the wall. Laying her long blades across her knees and untying her quiver from her leg, Mary closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but her mind kept coming back to the dwarf man she had met. Mary shook her head, disgusted with herself. She was here to do a job, not look for romance!

She laid her head back and finally fell asleep a little after midnight.

Several hours later, Mary awoke with a start. Disoriented, it took her a few seconds to get her bearings. Then she heard what had awoken her; a large clock in the kitchens, tolling the hour. Four o'clock. Perfect, just about the time she had wanted to wake. She needed to be leaving around sunrise, when the mists were rising off the lake so as to hide her escape.

Mary snuck out of the storage room and into the cavernous kitchens, where she found a crate filled with oiled bags for transporting cooked and cured meats. Grabbing several, she began to fill them with all sorts of meats from the cold room. Putting these in the pack she had brought with her, she then put the pack on her back and put her cloak on over it. She then headed to her next target: one of three huge treasure rooms. The clock tolled the half hour as she left. She only had around two and a half hours until sunrise.

Mary moved as quietly as possible down the corridor- not an easy task with twenty extra pounds on your back. But finally she made it to the huge cavern where the dragon Smaug use to live among massive piles of gold and jewels. Fortunately, that was ten years ago, the dragon was now dead and the gold and jewels cleared out and moved into the treasure rooms.

Mary crept out of the passageway and to the closest treasure room door and pulled on the latch. Locked! And so was the second one! "This last one had better be open or the plan was for naught," she thought. Mary prayed and tried the last door. By some miracle, it was open. Once inside, she took out a small pouch and filled it with the coins conveniently left in small stacks on a nearby desk.

She put the now full pouch in a pocket on the side of her pack and turned to leave. The Intuition struck her again, and this time is was a warning of danger! Something was wrong! Something dangerous awaited her on the other side of the closed treasure room door!

Mary knew she could not stay in the treasure room and there was no other way out but the way she came in. She pulled out her bow and notched an arrow and slowly left the room. Moving slowly and quietly, she looked around the cavern and saw… nothing.

"Maybe The Intuition in off from the lack of sleep," she thought.

Relaxing slightly, she turned to go down the passageway on her right, as planned, when a voice suddenly yelled from above, "What are you doing down there?!"

Mary looked up quickly, startled, and saw two dwarf men standing next to a column above her. One was older, dressed all in brown with a long, white beard and the other was the blue-eyed dwarf man she had met earlier and he was dressed all in dark blue.

Mary quickly fired two arrows in rapid succession, aimed to hit the column, very close to the blue-eyed dwarf's face. The men did exactly what she wanted: dove behind the column. Mary took off running, sprinting away down the right hand passageway. She was about five feet down the corridor when she heard something heavy land behind her in the cavern, most likely one of the men jumping down from above, and then heavy footsteps chasing her. Mary did not look back, she only ran faster into the dark passageway.

As she kept running, it became clear that she was faster than her pursuer, his footsteps sounding farther and farther behind. She then came to a fork in the passageway that she did not remember from her scouting earlier. The left side sloped down while the right side sloped up.

"Since I am trying to get out, I surely don't want to go any higher up the mountain," she thought. She took the left fork and soon noticed that she could no longer hear the sound of pursuit. Happy at the thought that she may have lost him, Mary slowed to a walk, and then stopped to catch her breath.

Having not had a decent meal in a while, Mary knew she was not in any shape to be running for long periods of time. Also, having made sure that the kids always ate before she did, she was thinner than they were. This was usually disconcerting to those who saw her up close, as she usually had a fuller figure, closer to that of a dwarf woman than an elf maid.

As she started walking down the passageway, it suddenly widened out, like walking into a large, roughly oval-shaped room. Then about ten feet across, it narrowed again and disappeared around a sharp turn. As she crossed the space and headed for the turn, The Intuition slammed into her mind with a sharp warning of danger. Something waited out of sight around the corner. Mary slid her bow back in her quiver and drew her long blades out of their sheaths, holding them with the blades pointed down and the flat of the blades against her forearms.

She crept forward slowly and silently to face what waited ahead. As she reached the corner, The Intuition hit her so forcefully, that she threw her arms up in front of her face- just in time to block the slash of a sword, with her long blades. Whoever was on the other end of the sword had more strength than her, as Mary could not push them back.

Instead, using the sword as leverage, she was able to push off and leap back about two feet to face her opponent. As he stepped into the light, Mary could see he was a dwarf man with long, dark, brown hair, blue eyes and a short beard. He was dressed in all blue. He was the man she had met in the entry way, who had almost pushed her over, had caught her coming out of the treasure rooms, the one who had been chasing her. How had he gotten in front of her?!

"I thought there was something strange about you earlier," he said. "Thieves are not tolerated here!"

Mary refused to rise to the bait and answer him. Instead, she brought her arms, with the long blades still pressed against her forearms, up in a fighting stance.

"You will regret trying to fight me. Just give back what you stole and I may be merciful," he said.

Mary just glared at him, knowing she had a better chance fighting than she had in throwing herself on some man's mercy.

"I did try to warn you," he said as he brought his sword up. It was a single edged sword that curved out slightly toward the tip.

"An elegant weapon," Mary thought, as she waited to see if he would attack first. She kept trying to make him circle around the chamber, thinking that if she could get him away from the passageway, she could slip down it. She knew she had a very slim chance of beating him as he was both taller and stronger than her. Him being taller than her shocked Mary, as she was five foot, yet still he was about two inches taller.

As she tried to get him to circle, he seemed to see what she was doing and just stepped in front of her. "Irritating man, never doing what you should!" Mary thought.

Finally he attacked and Mary was hard pressed to keep up. He had to be one of the best, if not **_the_** best, fighters she had ever faced. His superior strength won out a few minutes in as he caught Mary's block with the flat of his sword and with a hard shove, sent her flying backward and off her feet. As she landed on her back, she banged her left elbow on the floor and lost the blade in her hand; it landed about a foot away. Mary looked up and found his sword tip hovering above her chest.

"Surrender! I do not want to have to kill you," he said.

Mary just glared at him, and noted how loosely he held the sword, a plan already forming in her mind.

Suddenly, she swung her left arm at him, slapping his sword to the side and rolling away, coming back to her feet with her blade back in her hand. She had meant to hit the flat of his blade, but the searing pain and feeling of blood running down her arm told her she had caught the edge. Not wanting him to know she was wounded, Mary resumed her fighting stance. This seemed to aggravate him. "Good," Mary thought. "People tend to not think clearly when their temper gets involved."

He attacked again, but Mary was faster this time, dodging and kicking whenever possible, her fighting style more elfish than dwarfish.

Suddenly, Mary crossed her blades and caught his sword on a downward stroke between the two. They held like that for a moment but, as he pushed down, Mary felt herself buckling. Seeing her buckling, he shifted his weight to the balls of his feet to put more pressure on her. Mary, seeing his shift, dropped down suddenly into a crouch, pulling him off balance. She then spun around, lashing out with a foot and sweeping his feet out from under him. He fell hard on his back. Mary quickly jumped up and kicked his sword out of his hand, sending it flying down the passageway and around the corner, out of sight. She then stepped on his wrist and positioned her blade right above his throat.

"I did not come here to harm anyone," she said. "If you just stay…" She stopped. She could hear footsteps and voices in the passageways. Judging by the sound and faintness they were still at a distance.

"Thorin!" one of the voices called.

"Thorin?" Mary thought and looked down at the man at her feet. She noticed for the first time something hanging from his belt. A shield that looked hewn from an oaken branch.

"Thorin Oakenshield?" she asked the man. He just glared back at her. "Great!" she said sarcastically, feeling fear rising in her. "As if this night couldn't get any better!"

Mary knew she had to get away before the others got there. "Just stay down and nobody will get hurt," she told him, and then she took her foot off his wrist, and backed away slowly. Then, sheathing her long blades, she turned and started running. Suddenly, she heard the sharp twang of a bow string and was pulled up short. An arrow had pierced the end of her cloak, tacking it to the wall. Before she could move, she heard another twang, and another arrow pierced her cloak just behind her shoulders. She looked back and saw a bow in Oakenshield's hands, one that she had not noticed before.

Her hands tore at the ties of her cloak and just as she got them undone, he was on her. She tried to fight him off and get away, but he grabbed both her arms at the wrist with one hand and pinned them above her head. His fingers put so much pressure on the cut on her arm that she winced and almost cried out in pain. With his other hand, he yanked the scarf off her face. At first he looked shocked and Mary knew he was taking in the slight elfish cast in her features, with the human eye color and the dwarfish shape of her face and body.

"A half-breed!" he exclaimed. Mary **HATED** being called a half-breed.

"Yeah, a half-breed," she said bitterly, her voice seething with anger.

She looked at him, noticing that he was standing with his feet shoulder-width apart.

"One that's about to teach you a lesson!" she said.

He leaned down in her face. "And what might that be?" he sneered. He did not notice when Mary shifted her weight. Suddenly, she rammed her knee up as hard as she could! His knees buckled and he sagged forward, his grip loosening on her wrists. She got her hands free and rammed his chest with her shoulder, knocking him down and jumped away from him.

"To learn to stand with your legs closed, you highness!" she said mockingly. Then with a smile and a fake curtsy, she ran off down the passageway. Her scoffing laugh echoing behind her.

**oOo**

Mary continued to run until she was out of breath. And when she stopped briefly to rest, she looked around and noticed a tapestry hanging in an odd place across form her. "What an odd place to hang that, no one can see it," she thought, confused. As she approached it, she noticed something strange about it.

"So that's how he did it!" she exclaimed softly to herself as she moved it aside to reveal a narrow stairway leading to a passageway above. At the same time, she noticed she was leaving clear tracks in the dust. "Well that won't do," she thought, getting an idea to buy some time.

She brushed away the tracks, and then took time to lay a false trail leading away from the way she was going. By the time she was done she could hear her pursuers getting closer again. Then, gathering her strength, she leapt from where she was standing, off the wall and through the tapestry, and onto the stairs behind. She ran up the stair quietly- taking care to not leave any tracks to follow- and around the corner. She hid not a moment too soon, as they had reached the tapestry mere seconds later.

"I want her found!" she heard Oakenshield say angrily.

"Are you alright?" asked a voice Mary did not recognize. "You're limping," it stated.

"I am fine!" she heard Oakenshield say impatiently, "I merely twisted my ankle, that is the only reason she got away."

Mary had to stifle a laugh; it seemed she had wounded his pride.

"I've found her tracks," said a third voice.

"Well follow them, the sooner we catch her the better!" Oakenshield said. Mary stood listening as they moved off. She stood still for a few more seconds, and then approached the tapestry. Reaching out with The Intuition, she prayed they were gone and not just waiting on the other side for her to come out. But her sense told her that all was clear and she peeked out, seeing no one she exited and headed back up the passageway; she needed her cloak and scarf, as they were the only ones she had.

Arriving back at the wide part of the passage, she found them were she'd been forced to leave them. Scarf on the floor and her cloak still tacked to the wall. Keeping an ear out for any sign that her pursuers were returning, she grabbed her scarf and pulled the arrows out to free her cloak. Putting them both back on, she was about to throw the arrows away when she noticed how well-made they were. She decided to keep them and stuck them in her quiver; she was always scavenging for arrows anyway.

Still not hearing any sign of pursuit (obviously her false trail had worked better than expected), she took a few seconds to bind her arm with the bandages her mother had packed, even though the bleeding had stopped. She would have her mother look at it later as Mary was no healer.

Mary knew she had to get out soon, she was exhausted. The fight with Thorin Oakenshield had taken a lot out of her. She ran back to the tapestry and back up the stairs, hoping to find a way out. As she searched, she had the feeling that she was going farther up rather than down, but, being completely lost at this point, could not find a passage leading down. She soon started passing doors and knew she was starting to enter a part of the city that housed living quarters. Not good.

Finally, she turned down a hall with no doorways; mid-way down the hall there was an opening that lead to a long staircase that lead even farther up. The staircase was so tall that she could not see what was at the top of them, only darkness, and knew that going up that high would not help her in getting out. So, she walked past the stairs and moved toward the end of the hall.

Suddenly, she heard voices coming from in front of her and stopped. Quickly, she turned around and started back the way she came. She had just made it back to the foot of the stairs, when she heard the sound of footsteps coming from in front of her. With men approaching from the front and from behind and with nowhere else to go, Mary turned and ran up the stairs.

She could hear the voices getting closer to the stairs and ran farther up. "Thorin! Dwalin! Did you find anything?"

"Nothing, but the cloak and scarf are gone- along with the arrows. I know she's close!"

That last voice was Oakenshield! Mary, heart in her throat and choking with fear, finally came to the top of the stairs and a door. Praying no one was inside, and with no time to check with the intuition, she pushed the door open and slipped inside quietly closing the door. She turned and looked around.

"Oh no!" she thought. She had just dead ended herself. She found herself in a medium sized circular room, with a fireplace to her right that had two chairs pulled close, and a heavy stone table against the wall to her left. In front of her was an exterior window, one of the few she had seen here. Heavy stone shutters were closed and locked over it.

"What am I going to do?" she thought, "There's no way out!" For a moment she saw the faces of her family flash before her eyes. Worry and fear, when she did not show up at mid-day ten miles southwest of here as planned, colored their eyes. The thought of her family cut through her hysteria and made her think.

The window! Maybe it was not too high to climb down. Joseph had insisted she take a coil of rope, with knots tied at regular intervals, with her. "You never know when a piece of rope will come in handy," he had said. She checked and sure enough it was still coiled at her waist.

Walking over to the window, she struggled with the stiff lock for a few moments, got it unlocked and then threw her weight against the shutters and pushed them open. Luckily they moved silently on well-oiled hinges.

Looking out, she could see the full moon, still bright on the horizon- dawn was fast approaching. The mists had not yet started to rise, but she did not have time to dawdle. Looking down, she could see a ledge some sixty feet down. She could make it, she was sure of it.

Mary took her rope and made a slip knot, then she tied one end to the table and took off her pack, tying it the other to give the rope some weight, finally tossing the rope out the window. Looking down, she noticed a trail, hewn from the rock, leading from the ledge, across a huge statue to a huge set of zig-zagging stairs carved into the mountainside- she also noticed that the rope did not quite reach the ledge, but she had no other choice; this was her only way out.

Putting on her old riding gloves to protect her hands, she carefully lowered herself out the window and made it about twenty feet down before she slipped. The climb down was putting terrible strain on her left arm and it started bleeding again, and gave out for a second. She slid about ten feet down before catching herself. An involuntary "Whoa!" escaped her.

She clamped her lips together, but it was too late. The sound reverberated up and down the mountainside. If the search party was anywhere near the stairs, they would have heard her.

Mary started moving down the rope faster than before, throwing caution to the wind, and only had fifteen to the end of the rope when she heard the bang of the door being thrown open in the room above.

"The window!" she heard someone yell and she looked up.

There was Thorin Oakenshield glaring down at her. He moved back inside the window and she heard him say "Grab that rope and haul her in!" Terrified, Mary really started moving fast, but noticed that the rope ended around twenty feet above the ledge. Suddenly, there was a loud snap. She knew that sound! The rope was breaking!

"Grab the rope!" she heard a panicked voice shout. There was one more loud snap and suddenly the rope went slack in her hands. Screaming, Mary started to fall. Then, suddenly, the rope went taunt and was ripped from her hands. Turning and reaching out, she was able to grab the strap of her pack as she fell past. Looking down, she saw her feet swing out over the ledge until all she saw was tree tops and rocks some three-hundred feet below.

"NO, NO, NO!" she screamed, not wanting to die. Finally she started to swing back toward the ledge, and seeing it only about five feet down, she reached and grabbed one of her long blades and sliced through the rope. She landed on her feet- at first- but the momentum of the swing carried her over until she fell and rolled until she hit the wall with her right shoulder. "Oh, that's going to leave a bruise!" she thought, insanely happy to still be alive.

Still clutching the pack, Mary shakily got to her feet and put it back on under her cloak. She then leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, taking a couple deep breaths for a second, to get control of herself.

"Where is she?!" she heard Oakenshield yell. Mary pulled her hood back up, as it had fallen off during her fall, and stepped farther out on the ledge. Looking up, she saw Oakenshield leaning out the window. She smiled at him, gave him a mock salute and ran for the trail.

Half way down the zig-zagging stairs, she noticed the sun rising along with the mists. Thankful for the timing, she hurried the rest of the way down. The mists had reached the base of the mountain when she reached the bottom of the stairs. Fading into the mists, she ran for the meadow where she had left Silver Mist, unwilling to believe she had gotten away until she was back with her family.

**oOo**

Mary had just reached the tree line when she heard the first sounds of pursuit from the mountain. Even though she knew the dwarfs would have a hard time spotting her in the mists, thanks to her all gray clothing, she was still cautious. Walking silently and trying not to leave any tracks to follow, Mary worked her way quickly towards the meadow. She heard a voice farther behind her shout, "Split up and look for her tracks. I want to catch her before she can get away. And remember she is armed." The voice was Oakenshield and he was closer than expected! At his voice, Mary broke into a run and finally reached the meadow.

Mary whistled twice and listened. A few seconds passed and then she heard a shrill whinny. Turning, she watched the silvery dappled gray pony appear through the mists for which she was named. She ran up to the pony and rubbed her neck, happy beyond words to see her. Mary quickly took off Silver's halter and replaced it with her bridle; the pony was acting as frisky as a well-rested foal. Good, she would need that energy, as they still had a ways to go.

Mary had just tightened Silver's girths and breast band and was about to mount when she heard it- a familiar tread, someone was close! Not wanting to risk either her or Silver getting shot with an arrow, she turned the pony's head and swatted her on the rump, sending her trotting away. Mary then dodged behind a large tree and seeing the branches were low enough, decided to climb.

After climbing up, she settled in the fork of the tree. She pulled her hood close around her head, not wanting any of her hair's bright read color to escape to give her away in the fog. She watched carefully and, sure enough, Thorin Oakenshield stepped out of the mists, some ten feet from her tree. Seeing she was at a bad angle to shoot, if she had to, Mary quickly and quietly worked her way out onto a branch and leapt to another tree. Hiding in the fork of this tree, she pulled out her bow.

"Thief, where are you?!" he called. "I know you are close and you are going to regret the humiliation you dealt me today!" Mary smiled to herself and decided to play a little game with him.

"Brave words for someone in such a dangerous situation," she taunted.

"Dangerous?" he scoffed.

"Yes, you are chasing a Phantom of the Mists," she replied, notching an arrow to her bow.

"Phantom of the Mists? Is that what you call yourself," he answered sarcastically. No longer smiling, Mary could feel the first stirrings of anger.

"No," she replied. "That's what people like you have forced me to become! A Phantom! A Spector!" She aimed as she spoke, finding her target. "A being unworthy of even the very air she breaths!" she said, truly angry now.

"People like me?" he asked, "How's that? You don't even know me!" he replied.

"I know your type!" Mary yelled, waiting for him to turn just a little more to his right. "Wealthy noblemen who think they can take whatever they want, simply because of their status!" she spat at him.

"From where I am standing, you are the one taking things that don't belong to you! Maybe you are the one that causes harm and not us noblemen," he shouted back, turning toward her voice.

"Perfect!" Mary thought and fired. Her arrow neatly pierced his tunic just above the elbow in the gap between his right arm gauntlet and the end of his armored shirt sleeve, tacking him to the tree behind him.

Certain she had not harmed him; she notched another arrow and fired as he turned to pull the first arrow out. This time the arrow skimmed next to his neck and pierced his collar, tacking him more firmly to the tree.

"Move again and the next one is in your heart!" she said as she leapt down, landing in front of him, a third arrow notched in her bow. He glared at her, but dropped his left hand back down and stopped moving.

"I told you already, I did not come here to harm anybody! What I do is for my family!" she said, putting her bow and arrow back in her quiver. "Stop following me and it will stay that way!" she said as she turned to walk away.

Mary stopped when she heard him scoff at her. "A thief concerned about the pain and grief she causes? More likely worried about getting away so you can placate your greed," he snapped angrily at her. His words caused Mary to see red. In the blink of an eye she had one of her long blades in her left hand and swung around, slashing as she did so, embedding the blade in the tree mere inches from his face.

"Pain and grief!" she said through clenched teeth, "You want to know what real pain is?! Real pain is watching your family, especially the children; slowly starve because of someone else's lies! And real grief!? Real grief is knowing that the only thing you can do about it will get you thrown in someone's dungeon, if you get caught! Don't talk to me about pain and grief, when you don't know what **_REAL_** pain and **_REAL_** grief are!" she raged at him.

Getting control of herself again, she pulled her blade out of the tree and slammed it back in its sheath. Then she whistled for Silver Mist. "As I said," she spoke as she mounted, "Don't follow me. No one has to get hurt!" He glared at her when she said this.

"I will find you!" he said.

Mary snorted, "Good luck!" she said back sarcastically. Then, turning Silver Mist around, she trotted off, disappearing into the mist.


	2. (2) Pursuit

Mary rode as quickly as she dared, not wanting to injure Silver, but also wanting to get as far away as possible. She was only a short distance away when she heard Thorin yelling for the others. She kept a close watch, knowing that she was now too exhausted to defend herself if the need arose.

Thankfully, she reached the road without encountering anyone else. She turned Silver Mist to the southwest and moved on at as fast a pace as she could afford. She knew it would be a couple of hours before the sun burned the mists off and the search party picked up her trail, but she wanted to meet up with her family and be farther away before that happened.

About three miles down the road, Mary stopped to give Silver a break, and while she was feeding Silver some of the carrots and apples she had been able to take, she also decided to take stock of her weapons. Upon inspecting her arrows, she could not help but laugh.

"Oh, he is going to be mad!" she thought, with a smile. Looking again she was sure of it. The two arrows she had shot him with were her only two barb-tipped arrows! "He's going to be stuck on that tree for a while!" she said to herself with a laugh.

As she continued to ride, she found it harder and harder to stay awake. The adrenaline that had kept her alert and helped her escape, was now gone, leaving her almost too exhausted to keep her eyes open. Suddenly, an arrow whizzed about two feet in front of her face and embedded itself in a tree to her left. Mary looked at it and rolled her eyes.

"The next one won't miss!" said a voice to her right. Mary looked toward the voice and said, "Donald, if I were the size of a cave troll, you would still miss me!"

"Mary?" he asked, surprised, "How did you know it was me?"

"Because no one else I know has such bad aim! The bow and arrow are not your best weapons," she said. "Where's everyone else?" she asked.

"Up the road a bit, we were not expecting you for a couple more hours," he replied. "I got an earlier, faster exit than anticipated," she said with a smile.

Turning, they rode together to rejoin the rest of the family. "You're hurt!" Donald exclaimed, noticing her bound arm.

"Not badly," she replied. "More importantly, I was successful," she said with a smile. Donald just shook his head.

"You know Mother is not going to be happy that you are hurt again," he said.

"We all know I have had worse," she replied flippantly. After that they rode the rest of the way in silence. As they rounded a curve in the road and the wagon came into view, Mary heaved a sigh of relief and started to relax. "It's over," she said quietly.

A cry went up from the wagon upon seeing the two riders approaching. "Daddy and Aunt Mary are back!" she heard her oldest nephew, Davon, cry happily. Her parents climbed out of the back and, with relieved smiles, greeted their youngest daughter as she dismounted. Mary took off her heavy pack and handed it to her father and he made sure some of the food she had brought was passed around as Mother tended to her wounded arm. It made her happy to know everyone would have full stomachs tonight. It made everything she went through well worth it.

"Well at least you don't need stitches…..this time," her mother said with a shake of her head.

Mary smiled at her and replied, "No, all I need now is sleep."

And after giving mom a hug and thanking her, she saw that Silver Mist was tended to and tied to the back of the wagon. Then, as they set off down the road, she crawled into her bedroll and fell sound asleep next to the children. Several hours later, Mary was roughly shaken awake. Opening her eyes, she noticed it was evening and that they had stopped. Kaylah, who had been the one to wake her, said, "Wake up, something is wrong!"

Mary got up and left the wagon, joining her parents outside. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Joseph just saw some riders coming up fast. They are still about five miles back, but he is sure they are following us," Father replied.

"They are led by a rather tall dwarf with long, dark, brown hair and a short beard, dressed in dark blue." Joseph said joining them.

"Oh no!" Mary whispered to herself, "Oakenshield!"

"Thorin Oakenshield?!" Mother exclaimed overhearing her. Mary looked at her helplessly.

"Why would the King Under the Mountain be personally leading the hunt for a simple thief?" Mother asked, panic crossing spreading across her face. Mary grimaced as she answered, "Let's just say King Thorin and I are not going to be the best of friends."

"Mary! What did you do?!" Mother shouted.

"Besides steal from him? Um….." she replied with a regretful look. "Mock him to his face, humiliate him, and the last time I saw him, left him tacked to a tree with two barb-tipped arrows," she finished sheepishly.

Mom closed her eyes and lowered her head at this. "Oh Mary," she lamented softly. Mary could hear Donald snickering over Mother's shoulder. "This is not funny, Donald!" Mother exclaimed, rounding on him.

"We can settle this later!" dad said placing a hand on his wife's shoulder, "We need to get out of here or we are all dead."

**oOo**

Mary ran to the wagon and grabbed her long blades and belt with her throwing knives and put them on; not realizing that she left her quiver half buried beneath her bedroll. She ran to saddle Silver Mist and they set out as fast as they could get the ponies pulling the wagon to go.

Not for the first time, Mary was thankful for her father's skillful driving. He was able to keep the wagon on the road while keeping the ponies moving at a fast pace. Joseph rode ahead to watch for trouble and Donald rode behind, keeping an eye on their pursuers. Donald rode up and said, "It looks like they are giving up! They are slowing down and some have appeared to turn back." This sounded like good news until Joseph rode up.

"No," he said, "They have not turned back! Somehow they have circle in front of us! We are surrounded!"

Father pulled the wagon off the side of the road. Mary was about to suggest that she surrender herself while everyone else took to the woods and escaped, but Father threw the pack to her and said, "Go around the side of the wagon and disappear into the woods. Without you and that pack here, we should be able to talk our way out of this."

"I can't leave you here to take the consequences of my actions!" Mary exclaimed, shocked.

"We don't have time to argue about this! Just do as I say!" Father told her sternly.

"But…" she tried to argue.

"GO!" he yelled. Mary nodded, put on the pack under her cloak, and took one last look at her family. "I'm sorry. I thought this would help," she said regretfully and then rode off into the bushes at the side of the rode and off into the woods.

She had ridden about thirty feet in when she heard the sound of hoof beats approaching. Finding a good hiding spot for both her and Silver, Mary turned and watched, praying Father's plan worked. Mother stayed on the front seat of the wagon and Joseph, on his black pony Night Phantom, was at the front of the wagon near the other ponies. Donald dismounted his chestnut pony, Sky Fire, and stood at the back with Kaylah, who was inside with the children. Father stood towards the center. He, Donald and Joseph all had their weapons ready as the pursuers caught up to them. Father spoke first, "What's the meaning of this? Why are you chasing us down the road and terrorizing my family?!"

Oakenshield looked surprised as he answered, "We are hunting for a thief and her trail has led to you! Last night a half-breed woman entered Erebor illegally and stole from the treasure rooms. Now, I don't think it is a coincidence that we have now found a whole family of half-breeds," he said. There were sounds of agreement from the group around him.

Father raised is sword and pointed it at Oakenshield, "Call my family half-breeds again and you will be eating those words!" he threatened. "We have done nothing wrong, we are simply traveling from the Iron Hills to see our eldest daughter in Bree," he explained.

Oakenshield clearly did not believe him and said, "Not the best time of year to be traveling. Going from the Iron Hills to Bree? Why not take the Great East Road? You are taking the long way around."

Father did not miss a beat, "Part of my wife's family comes from Erebor and, since we will most likely stay in Bree and not come back this way, my family wanted to be able to see the Lonely Mountain and the City of Dale."

Thinking Mary had taken every trace of her with her, dad said: "Feel free to search our wagon. The only people here are me, my wife, my two sons, my eldest son's wife and their three children." Oakenshield nodded and he and another dwarf dismounted. But as they walked toward the back of the wagon, Donald stepped in their way battle axe raised.

"No!" he said.

"Donald!" Father exclaimed.

"No! I won't have them scaring Kaylah and the children any farther!" Donald growled, holding his ground. Oakenshield looked at him and Mary, watching, held her breath.

"Then have them come out slowly." Oakenshield said. Donald looked at Father and when he nodded, Donald, clearly not liking it, thumped the back of the wagon. "Kaylah," he said, "Come out slowly with the children." The back flaps opened and Kaylah and the three kids slowly exited the wagon. The minute Kaylee's feet hit the ground, it broke Mary's heart to see the way she darted around her father and tried to hide. Donald moved the rest of his family behind him and let the men pass.

Mary edged a little closer and saw the disappointed looks on their faces when they found the back of the wagon empty. Suddenly there was a change in Oakenshield's expression and Mary saw him reach in and pull something out of the wagon. "You want to try lying to me again?" he said as he held the item up. Her quiver! Mary looked down at her left side. How could she have forgotten to strap it on?

"That's my…" Kaylah started.

"Don't even try!" Oakenshield snapped as he pulled an arrow out. Mary quietly rode closer, keeping Oakenshield in view, but also keeping herself carefully hidden from anyone watching. She could see the arrow he had pulled out was one of the two she had taken from the passageway.

"This arrow was made in Erebor. I know because it belongs to me and I shot it at a thief early this morning!" Oakenshield hissed. "Take the adults and put them is shackles! We will take them all back!" he ordered, "Maybe a couple of days in the dungeons will bring out the truth!"

"No! Wait!" Mary yelled before anyone could move. The dwarves turned in surprise as she seemed to appear out of the woods. "It's me you want, leave them alone!" she said. "My family had nothing to do with this!" "Mary, No!" her mother cried.

"Mother, this was my decision, my actions and I need to face the consequences of them," Mary said without taking her eyes off Oakenshield. "You give me your word that no harm will come to my family and I will come peacefully, you will have no trouble out of me," she told Oakenshield, "You have my word."

"And if I don't?" Oakenshield asked, challengingly.

Mary glared at him and said, "Then you will have more of a fight on your hands then you ever thought possible and I promise you one of us will not be leaving alive!"

An older dwarf, with a long white beard and dressed in brown, standing next to him chuckled, "The girl's got spunk, you got to give her that, lad."

"Shut up, Balin!" Oakenshield growled.

"Fine, you have my word, they will not be harmed," he conceded.

Oakenshield then pointed his sword at Mary, "Now, get off the pony and return what you stole," he ordered. "You will also surrender all of your weapons."

Mary did what she was told. Dismounting, she took off her cloak and tossed it over Silver's withers. She then took off the pack and tossed it to him. "It's all there but some of the food. My family had to eat, you understand," she told him. She then unbuckled her belt with the throwing knives and unbuckled the strap that held her long blades on her back. As she was handing them to him she heard the sound of little feet running toward her!

"Kaylee!" she heard Kaylah scream. Out of the corner of her eye, Mary saw Kaylee running toward her!

"Aunt Mary, no!" she cried. Mary saw some of the men shift toward Kaylee and she suddenly flashed back to three years ago. She was standing before a different group of dwarf men, scared out of her mind and unarmed. She saw the axe swing.

"Kaylee!" Mary screamed, swung around and grabbed the little girl, clutching her to her chest, placing her body between her niece and the group of men. Mary came back to the present with Kaylee's little arms wrapped tightly around her waist and her face buried in her tunic, sobbing.

"No, Aunt Mary, don't go!" Kaylee cried. Mary knelt down in front of her.

"Kaylee, you need to let me go," she said softly.

"No, no!" the little girl protested.

"Yes," Mary said, "I have to go away for a little while."

"But why?" the little girl asked.

"Because I have done something wrong and I need to make up for it." Mary said, tears now running down her face as well.

"No, you did not!" Kaylee exclaimed.

"Yes, I did." Mary said firmly, "Now I have to go away for a while," she repeated, "But I promise you, I will see you again!" Mary hugged the little girl tightly, then looked up and said, "Donald, come get your daughter." He walked to her and picked Kaylee up.

"No! Aunt Mary!" Kaylee sobbed.

"Kaylee, go with your father. GO!" Mary said. Donald then carried the weeping child away. Mary stood up and dried her tears before turning around to face Thorin. When she turned, she glared defiantly at him, daring him to condemn her for her tears. He looked back at her with a sympathy in his eyes that confused her. "Why would he even care?" she wondered.

She held her hands up to him and he snapped a set of heavy shackles on them and two men came up on either side of her as guards. He then turn to his men and said, "We will take them all back to Erebor." Upon hearing this. Mary began to struggle against the two men holding her.

"You liar!" she yelled, "You gave me your word!" Thorin turned quickly and placed his sword point under her chin and said, "Do not question my honor! I gave you my word, and I will keep it. They will not be harmed. They will come to Erebor, answer a few questions, and then they will be free to leave if they wish."

After this, Mary was placed back on Silver Mist, Oakenshield himself taking her reins, and they all set off down the road back toward the mountain.


	3. (3) Mysterious Past

They were not riding long before the shadows began to lengthen towards sunset. The cold February wind started to blow, and soon enough, Mary was shivering from the cold. She looked down at her cloak still laid across Silver's withers, wishing she could put it on. But, with the way her hands were shackled so close together, it was impossible without help. Her family was too far back in the company to offer assistance and there was no way she was asking any of these men… she still had her pride! Shortly after sunset, Oakenshield called for a halt.

"We will camp here tonight and return home tomorrow," he said. Mary was told to dismount and her two guards walked her to a spot in the clearing where they had stopped and ordered her to sit down under a large tree. She did as she was told, remembering her promise of causing no trouble as long as her family was safe.

Looking around she was relieved to see Joseph had taken Silver Mist and was tending to her. "Bofur, get a fire going and get some dinner started," Thorin ordered. Unfortunately, the fire was started too far away to do Mary, who was now numb with cold, any good. Not wanting to show any sign of weakness in front of these men, she sat rigidly and tried to fight off the cold. As she sat and watched, she was surprised and relieved to see that her family had been given a portion of the dinner that was prepared, though they stayed around their own fire and made no attempt to talk with any of the dwarves in the company.

Mary closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the tree. She could see no way out of this situation and could feel despair creeping up on her. So far, Oakenshield had kept his word, but how long that would last she did not know. She had very little experience in trusting dwarf noblemen to do something that did not immediately benefit them. "My family is a burden to him, and when I am out of sight who knew what he would do to them," she thought sadly, wishing she had listened to her mother in the first place and not gone to Erebor.

Mary sat that way until she heard a small voice from over by the dwarves fire say, "Excuse me." She jerked upright at the sound of Davon's voice. Her sudden movement caught the attention of her guards, who turned towards her, but she paid them no attention as she stared, horrified, at the sight of her two nephews standing behind Thorin Oakenshield.

"Excuse me," Davon said again, louder. This time Thorin heard him and turned around, surprised to see the two boys standing behind him. As he knelt down in front of them, they took a couple of steps back in obvious fear.

"It's alright; I am not going to hurt you," Thorin said. "Well now what are your names?" he asked.

They looked at him for a moment before Davon answered, "I am Davon and this is my younger brother Aaron."

"And did you need something?" Thorin asked kindly.

"We wanted…" Davon started, unsure. "We wanted to ask if we could take Aunt Mary her cloak. It's cold," he said timidly. Mary noticed that, in fact, Davon was holding her cloak.

"Aunt Mary did not get any dinner!" Aaron spoke up suddenly. Thorin stood up then and turned to the man tending the cooking fire and asked, "Bofur, have you fed the prisoner?"

"No, I was waiting to see what you wanted to do," was the reply.

"Make a bowl." was the order. As Mary continued to watch, worriedly, Thorin took the bowl and handed it to Aaron. "Come with me," he told the boys and turned and walked toward her. Mary guardedly watched his approach, ready should he try to hurt either boy.

When the three reached where she was sitting, Thorin turned to the guards and said "Go, warm up by the fire and get something to eat. She is secure for now." After the guards left, he leaned against a tree some three feet away and watched as the boys ran to their Aunt.

"Aunt Mary, I have your cloak!" Davon exclaimed, obviously proud of himself and feeling quite brave.

"Thank you, could you help me with it?" she asked smiling at him and all the while trying to forget that Oakenshield was there listening.

"I got you some dinner," exclaimed Aaron, not to outdone by his older brother.

"Thank you! I don't know what I would do without my boys!" she said, this brought a smile to both boys' faces.

"Davon, Aaron," Mary heard Kaylah call.

"Go to your mother, it's probably bed time," Mary said, taking the bowl of food from Aaron.

"Aren't you coming too?" Aaron asked, innocently.

"No Buddy I have to stay here," she replied. After hugging them both, she watched them run back over to the rest of the family and climb into the wagon for bed.

Mary then set the bowl down and was tying the ties of her cloak at her throat that Davon had forgotten, when she heard a voice say, "Those are some brave and caring little boys."

Mary jumped; she had forgotten he was standing there. "You have no idea." Mary replied, hoping he would leave.

"Really," Oakenshield said, moving to stand in front of her, "They walked away from their family were they knew they were safe. Walked up to and talked to a person they were clearly afraid of. All because they were concerned that you might be cold and hungry. I think I have a pretty good idea!" Mary refused to look at him and having no reply, remained silent.

"They are really thin. In fact you all are," he stated. "Why is that?" he asked.

"That's none of your business or concern!" Mary snapped at him. Oakenshield closed the distance between them, reached out and grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet.

"Hey! Let go!" she exclaimed angrily. He grabbed her chin in his other hand and forced her to look at him. "Since I think it has something to do with your motive for stealing, I think it _is_ my business." Mary glared at him and did not answer him. He stared at her for a moment longer and then let her go. By then the guards had returned, and Oakenshield turned and left. Mary sat back down and watched him go, not liking his sudden interest in the affairs of her family or their past.

**oOo**

In the morning, Mary was wakened from her light doze with a rough shake. "On your feet!" said one of the guards. Looking over to check on her family, she caught sight of a rather amusing situation; at least five dwarves were trying to catch Silver Mist to saddle her. Silver, who would not allow herself to be tied up at night, having broken several halters and chewed through several more lead ropes, kept dodging away whenever a man got close. Mary also noticed her family just standing there, not attempting to help and clearly enjoying the spectacle.

"Enough!" Thorin ordered though it looked like he wanted to laugh as well, which surprised Mary. Thorin then looked at her, "Call your pony or you can walk the rest of the way!" he said.

Mary, not taking her eyes off of him, whistled for Silver. A slight smirk appeared on her face when Silver trotted over to her, stood still and allowed herself to be saddled like a well behaved pony. Mary smiled at Silver, stroking her nose. "Troublemaker," she said affectionately to the pony in elvish.

When they were finished, Mary- with some difficulty thanks to her hands still being shackled- mounted, and the company set off again. A couple hours later, they came in sight of the Lonely Mountain. As a cry of happiness went up from the dwarves, all Mary could feel was dread.

"What's going to happen to me here?" she thought fearfully.

They soon entered what appeared to be a stable area and Mary was made to dismount.

"Take her down to the dungeon and the rest of the family to my study," Thorin ordered. With that Mary was led away.

"Thorin what are you going to do with her?" Balin asked.

"I don't know," Thorin replied. "I will question the family. There's something going on here. Something has happened to these people that has driven her to such desperate measures. But the fact remains, she did steal from here and she tried to kill us both," he finished.

"No, she didn't," Balin said and Thorin looked at him for an explanation. "I have a feeling she hit what she aimed at. If she had been trying to kill us, we would be dead." With that said, Balin walked away to make his preparations for his return to Moria in a couple of days.

The guards led Mary farther down into the mountain then she ever thought possible. Even with the torches lit at regular intervals, it got darker the farther down they went. It was also very damp and chilly. They came to a stop before a barred door and Mary thought sadly; "My room."

They unlocked the door and motioned her forward, after which they removed the shackles and Mary stepped through the door, which closed behind her with a bang. Looking around, Mary saw on one end of the cell a long, wide stone shelf jutting out from the wall with a thin blanket and a pillow on it, and on the other was a small curtained off area with a chamber pot. Outside of that was a basin, pitcher, and a small cup made of hardened clay sitting on a small ledge about waist high; nothing that could be used as a weapon should she need one. Fortunately for her, she was not entirely unarmed, having not surrendered her boot daggers.

The guards locked the door and left. Once alone, Mary sat down on the stone shelf that was now her bed and finally gave into her fear. She buried her face in her hands and cried.

Upstairs, her family was led into a large, well-lit room. There was a large fireplace on one side and a huge desk on the other, and next to the fireplace there was a table with some food and a few chairs pulled up, and a few more chairs set in front of the desk. They stood there in huddled a group not quite knowing what to do, when Thorin entered through another door on the opposite side of the room. "You can help yourselves to the food. I am guessing the children are hungry," he said as he walked over and sat behind the desk. Donald nodded to Kaylah, who took the kids over and made them each a plate.

"Where's Mary?" Father asked.

"In the dungeons at the moment, until we get this incident resolved," Thorin answered. Her parents looked at each other, clearly not happy about this.

"We told her it was a bad idea, coming here," Mother said. "But it has been rough for us lately. And she could not see any other way to sustain us until we reached Bree. She actually abhors stealing."

"So you are actually heading for Bree?" Thorin asked.

"Yes," Father answered.

"And why did you feel you need to leave the Iron Hills at this time of the year?" Thorin asked. The family all looked at each other with troubled expressions, even the children were quiet. "Well?" Thorin urged.

"Only Mary knows all the details and what we do know she has asked…" Father started.

"Oh, please!" Donald broke in. "Why are we still protecting that homicidal maniac?!"

"Donald!" Joseph exclaimed. " We are protecting Mary, not him!"

"Don't give me that!" Donald said angrily. He then turned to Thorin and explained, "Three years ago, Mary and Kaylee were attacked on the way home from the market. Mary was almost killed protecting Kaylee."

Donald tried to continue, but a shove and a look form Father stopped him.

"Mary asked us not to talk about it," Father explained. "After the incident we left the Iron Hills, but we have found it hard to settle somewhere and find work."

"Why?" Thorin asked.

"Because of some lies put out by the father of the young man who led the group that attacked my daughter and granddaughter," Father replied.

"And who is this young man that his father has such power?" Thorin asked.

When Father hesitated to answer, Donald spoke up- "Don son of Den, a magistrate's son and…" he tried again to continue, but Mother interrupted, "If you want any more details, you will have to ask Mary," she said, "But, and I say this without sarcasm or disrespect; good luck, because she has not even discussed all the details with us."

Thorin nodded, thoughtful. He had met Don before. He was a distant cousin to Thorin's kin, King Dain Ironfoot of the Iron Hills. Don was not a pleasant man to be around, in Thorin's opinion. Loud, pompous and arrogant, Don's father had spoiled him beyond what was bearable by most people who held an ounce of common sense. If she had had a run in with Don, it would explain Mary's words about noblemen yesterday morning in the mists. "Wealthy noblemen who think they can take whatever they want simply because of their status!" she had said. Thorin had an idea, but he needed a few more facts first.

"Stay here and eat. I have a few more things to tend to. Then we will talk again," he said as he got up and left the room.

Mary tried to rest, but she was too anxious, so she wound up pacing the cell like a caged up Warg. She suddenly got a feeling from the Intuition that she was no longer alone. She turned around and sure enough there was Thorin Oakenshield, walking towards her cell.

"Mary, that's an unusual name for a woman of- what I can tell- dwarf and elf heritage," he said..

"We are also of human heritage and my mother, like hers before her, liked human names. What of it?!" she answered angrily.

"Enjoying the accommodations?" he asked sarcastically, leaning casually against the wall across from her cell. Mary glared at him. "You are probably thinking right now that it might have been better if you had killed me in that passageway," he said with a smirk.

Mary looked at him steadily, a deadly gleam in her eye and said, "If I had wanted you dead, my arrows would have found their mark the first time. I don't miss." Mary then turned her back on him and walked away, resuming her pacing. "Do you have a reason for this lovely little visit or are you just here to mock me?" she asked with her back still to him.

"From what I hear you and your family have had a rough time of it lately," Thorin said. Mary made it across the cell and picked up the small, clay cup.

"Been talking to my Mother, I see," she said, pouring herself a cup of water out of the pitcher.

"Yes, but it was your older brother who gave me some interesting information concerning an incident that happened three years ago, in the Iron Hills," Thorin said, watching her closely. Mary froze, cup half-way to her lips. "An incident that happened between you and a certain magistrate's son," he finished.

Mary put the cup down and clutched both sides of the small ledge. Her whole body started to shake as she fought the memory that tried to surface. Her eyes tightly closed in fear and anger, Mary snapped at him, "Donald talks too much about things he shouldn't!"

"What happened three years ago?" Thorin asked.

"What do you care?!" Mary asked back, "You caught your thief! Just state my punishment and be done with it! What happened in my past is none of your concern!" she snapped, refusing to turn and look at him, knowing she was on the verge of losing her temper.

"Your parents said you were the only one who knew all the details of what happened," he said, " And you won't share them even if it would make my judgment less harsh?" he sounded surprised.

"Let me put this in a way you will understand!" Mary said slowly, glaring over her shoulder at him, her temper hanging by a thread. "You have a better chance of seeing dragon fire freeze over than hearing that tale from me! Now go away!" Mary closed her eyes again and knew he had to leave before she lost it completely.

"You're the only one who knows all the details of what happened that day?" Thorin asked sounding thoughtful, "But that's not true is it? I could always ask the other person who was there with you," he said.

Mary's eyes flew open when she caught his meaning. His insinuation caused her to lose whatever control she had left of her temper, and before she realized what she was doing, she grabbed the full water cup, spun around and hurled it at him screaming, "YOU PIG-HEADED, ARROGANT, JACK-ASS!" The cup shattered against the wall next to his head, throwing the water all over him. "You stay away from my niece! She had been through enough without some brutish man interrogating her about a day that still terrifies her!" she yelled at him.

Thorin stepped up to the bars, "You will not order me around in my own halls," he warned.

"You go near her and I swear by Durin and the Valar, that when I am finished with you, you will be wishing that I had killed you in that passageway!" Mary threatened, getting right in his face.

Thorin glared at her and then turned and left the dungeon. As he climbed the stairs, Mary screamed at him, "YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Alone again, Mary sank down to the floor. "What have I done?" she asked herself. Her Mother had always said her temper would get her into trouble. Despair overwhelmed her and she started to sob. Mary cried until she had no strength left, before falling into a restless sleep.


	4. (4) The Deal

Thorin finished climbing the stairs to the guard room above the dungeons, Mary's scream still echoing behind him. The door to the guard room flew open before him and there stood Tauriel, his nephew Kili's wife, one of the captains of the city guard. An elf maid with red hair and green eyes, she was from Mirkwood and had fought by the dwarf's side during the Battle of the Five Armies.

"We heard a loud noise and some yelling," she said, "I was coming down to check," she paused then, noticing that Thorin had water dripping from his hair and face, down onto his shoulders. "What happened to you?" she asked, shocked.

"Our prisoner is going to need a new water cup," Thorin said simply, walking past her into the room. He then grabbed a nearby towel and began wiping the water from his face.

"She threw it at you?" Tauriel asked, aghast.

"To be fair, I may have egged her into it by purposefully antagonizing her," Thorin replied. A chuckle sounded from across the room. Dwalin, another captain of the city guard and Thorin's cousin, sat by the small fire place. A solid dwarf, almost as tall as Thorin, his head was bald on top but he had long, brown hair growing from the sides, a long, brown beard, and brown eyes.

"Balin-" Dwalin said, speaking of his older brother, "-warned you she was a spitfire." He continued to chuckle as Thorin dried off.

"Give her some time to calm down before you send anyone down there," Thorin told Tauriel. "She is terrified about something, but is trying to cover it up with anger. Her brother said that she was attacked three years ago in the Iron Hills, but she won't talk about it. Not even to save herself from a harsh punishment."

"The Iron Hills…" Tauriel said thoughtfully. She then turned to Dwalin and asked, "Did we not just have a couple and their young daughter move here from the Iron Hills last year? People of mixed race, like this family? He joined the city guard and she is a healer? I think he is one of your lieutenants."

Dwalin nodded, "You are thinking of Chase Willow and his wife Becky," he replied.

"Well, they did come from the Iron Hills. Maybe they know something about it," Tauriel suggested.

"The Iron Hills are a big place. But it is worth a shot and there is only one way to find out. Have them summoned here," Thorin ordered.

Chase and Becky were brought to the guard room above the dungeons. Chase was half dwarf and half elf; tall, but built like a dwarf with broad shoulders and had black hair and brown eyes. Becky was half human and half dwarf, she looked mainly like a dwarf woman, with black hair and green eyes, but lacking facial hair.

"My Lord," Chase said as both he and Becky bowed to Thorin, clearly confused about why they were there.

"I know it is odd to meet here, but I have some questions about the prisoner we brought in this morning, that I think you can answer," Thorin explained.

"Of course, we will help in any way we can," Chase said. "But what could we know about the thief?"

"Well the questions I have actually concern an incident that happened three years ago in the Iron Hills, involving a young woman of mixed race and a magistrate's son," Thorin explained.

The moment Thorin said that, Becky sat up straight and exclaimed, "Mary!"

"How do you know her? Or about the incident for that matter?" she asked, surprised.

"Well as it turns out, she is the thief," Thorin answered.

"Oh no!" Becky cried, "She would not do something like that without good reason. Where's her family? They can explain that."

"I have talked to them, but I need to know what happened and she will not talk about it," Thorin told them.

"I am not surprised, after what she went through," Chase said. "But we can only tell you what happened immediately after the attack."

"Actually…" Becky began. Chase looked at her surprised. "Becky?" he asked.

"Mary and I were good friends, it should not surprise you that we talked and that she told me things that she told no one else," she explained. Chase nodded and smiled at her. Becky then turned to Thorin and said, "I can give you some background that I think led up to the attack, but not what happened during it."

Chase then turned to Thorin and said, " What you need to understand is that the part of the Iron Hills where we lived was not exactly welcoming to our kind. We were not allowed to do certain jobs, like participate in the city guard."

Becky, picking up where her husband left off, said, " Mary and I were as close as sisters. She worked for a local Magistrate- one of the few that would hire someone like us- as a chaperon for his two daughters. I worked with her Mother, who is also a healer. It was while working for this magistrate that she had a number of run-ins with Don. Mary was never one to keep her head down and take abuse. She would let you have it if she thought you were out-of-line."

"So I have noticed" Thorin said drily.

Becky smiled sadly and continued, "It became so bad that anytime he saw her she had to endure nasty comments about half-breeds and how she needed to learn her place and some respect for her betters. She said she was able to ignore most of it, but one day he put his hands on her while he was over at her employer's house. She fought him off and told him that if he ever touched her again he would regret it. Her employer's eldest daughter saw the whole thing and he threw Don out and told him he was no longer welcome there.

"Two weeks later she was attacked and they called me to help her mother tend to her wounds. She was beaten pretty badly, but the wound on her back was the worst I have ever seen. Her back had been cut open with an axe, running from just below her left shoulder to just above her right hip. How she survived, I don't know. Just stubborn, I guess," Becky finished, tears in her eyes. Chase reached for her hand to comfort her.

"What surprised me, was the fact that she had no weapons on her that day," Chase said, " She usually, at least, had her boot daggers on her."

Thorin sat straight very quickly. "Boot daggers?!" he asked.

"Yes," Chase replied, "Four of them. Thorn, Briar, Nettle and Barb. Small and very sharp, like their names. She usually kept them coated with alder poison."

Thorin and Dwalin shared a worried look. "What happened after they called for your help?" Thorin asked Becky.

"Her Mother and I worked over her for a while, but we finally got the bleeding to stop and stitched up the wound on her back. A week later the magistrates called her to a hearing. They would not listen when we told them that she should not be up yet, that she was not strong enough. What's more they would not even let her family in with her. We don't know what happened in the hearing, only that Don and his friends got away with a slap on the wrists. The Magistrate that she worked for was not even allowed in the hearing, but we know that Don's father, Den, led it. Not long after that we started hearing rumors… Things were being said, such as- Mary was a thief and a liar and that she was just trying to get the boys in trouble. Her and her family left after that. They said they needed to find a better place for Mary to recuperate."

"That's really all we know," Chase said.

"Thank you." Thorin said.

As they got up to leave, Becky turned around and asked, "Can I see her? Maybe I could help."

"We will have to see, right now would not be a good time," Thorin answered. Becky nodded and left with Chase.

"Did we hear him right?" Dwalin asked, after they left. "I don't remember her surrendering any boot daggers."

"No, she did not," Thorin said, looking at the door leading to the dungeons, "She is still armed down there."

"What do you want to do?" Tauriel asked.

"Leave her be right now. Let no one down there. I need to talk to her family and then I will make my decision," Thorin said.

"One thing is for sure- if that is just the bare bones of what happened, I can understand why she is reluctant to talk about it," Tauriel said. Thorin nodded in agreement then turned and left the guard room.

oOo

"Donald, you know if Mary finds out you told him as much as you did, she is going to be very angry with you," Kaylah said.

"Donald never could keep his mouth shut!" Joseph growled, irritated at how much Donald had revealed.

"So what!" Donald exclaimed, "I don't like the idea of her in those dungeons! What if what I told him helps her? Besides, maybe if she talked to us, she would be able to put it behind her."

"There are some things that you just never get over," Mother said quietly.

"Very true," said Thorin coming through the door just then. "I have talked with your daughter and you were right. She won't talk about it, in fact she got very angry at the mention of it."

"Told you," Kaylah said to Donald.

"But there happens to be a couple here in Erebor that knew something about it. Chase and Becky Willow, I believe you know them," Thorin continued as if Kaylah had not spoken.

"Chase and Becky live here?" Kaylah asked, "Mary and Becky were very close."

Thorin nodded at this and said, "They were able to tell me what they knew, but I am sure there is more to it that only your daughter knows. And the fact remains that she did steal from here."

The family shared a worried look at this statement, but did not know what to say.

"But since most everything was returned, and I believe that the theft would not have occurred if your family were not in dire circumstances. So, in light of this, I have a proposition to offer," Thorin said and went on to outline his idea.

"I believe you are being more than generous. We will accept your offer whether or not Mary does, as we are not leaving here without her. Thank you," Father said, shaking Thorin's hand.

"It's settled then," Thorin agreed. He then walked to the door and signaled to someone outside. Two women who had been waiting, entered. One was Tauriel and the other a dwarf woman with brown hair and eyes.

"I will state the offer to your daughter, in the meantime. Molly," he said, gesturing to the dwarf woman, "Will show you to some rooms, so you can get cleaned up."

With that the family was led away. "They accepted your offer?" Tauriel asked.

"They did." Thorin answered, "Now for the hard part. I want you to bring the prisoner here. Hopefully, she is calmer and less combative with you," Tauriel looked surprised but understood.

Mary awoke with a start, but did not raise her head from her knees, nor did she move from the corner of the cell where she had sat since Thorin had left the dungeons. She heard a light step on the stairs and realized that the sound of the door closing above was what had woken her. As the steps drew nearer, Mary slid her hand into her right boot and closed her fingers around one of her daggers.

"Thorn," she thought, recognizing the rune under her fingers. She had no plan at the moment, she only knew she needed to get to Kaylee before that man followed through with his threat. She should have known better than to trust a dwarf man to keep his word! Hearing the cell door unlock, she tensed getting ready to fight her way out. As the door opened, she lifted her head and froze in surprise. An elf?! Mary was so shocked that she lost her grip on Thorn, which slid back down into its sheath.

"On your feet and come with me, the King wishes to speak with you," Tauriel said. Mary stared at her, unblinking. "Oh really," she said, settling herself back in the corner. "Well then, he can just walk himself down here for all I care!"

Mary and Tauriel stared at each other for a moment, then Tauriel sighed, "I don't want to fight you, but you are going up there whether you want to or not. Now, I can call a couple of men to help you or are you going to cooperate?" she said in a tone that told Mary that the elf was not joking around. Mary glared at her and thought for a moment, then, not liking her chances, got up and walked over to Tauriel. She would cooperate, for now, since she had lost the element of surprise. Tauriel put shackles back on her wrists and led her up the stairs to Thorin's study.

After the dimness of the dungeons, Mary found it very hard to see and stood blinking in the brighter light, not realizing Thorin was in the room.

"Thank you, Tauriel," Thorin said. Mary jumped when she realized he was there. "I think I can handle her from here," he said. Tauriel turned and left, leaving them alone.

"Sit," he ordered, not even looking at her. Mary simply glared at him and stood standing where she was. When he noticed she had not moved, he stared at her for a second then let out an exasperated sigh and asked, "Do you always have to do everything the hard way?"

"You threaten my niece, to my face, breaking your word, and you expect me to be cooperative," she answered sarcastically.

"I have kept my word," he insisted, "Your family is safe and I did not question your niece." Mary looked at him, the Intuition telling her that he was telling the truth and not liking it. It was easier to dislike him when she thought he was like other noblemen, not when he proved himself to be honorable.

"Fine," she said after a moment and sat down, "Happy?"

Thorin just shook his head and did not rise to the bait. "Let's talk about being truthful, now that you know I have been. You have not been truthful with me," he said going to sit at the desk.

"What are you talking about?" she asked indignantly, "I have kept my word and have caused no trouble."

Thorin smirked at her, "I seem to remember a certain cup being thrown at my head a little while ago," he reminded her. Mary just stared at him. If he was waiting for an apology, he was not going to get one.

"Also you were told to surrender ALL of your weapons, yet you kept four boot daggers," Thorin continued. Mary simply smirked and shrugged at him, unrepentant.

"Let's have them. Now!" he ordered. Mary glared at him, about to tell him no, when she noticed the look on his face and thought better of it. She needed to remember that she was at a grave disadvantage here, with the shackles still on her wrists. She bent down and pulled the small buckles loose on the straps that held the small sheaths in place, removed the daggers and placed them on his desk in front of her.

He picked them up and looked at them. Then putting them down he said, "You are correct in saying that you have kept your word. You came peacefully and caused no trouble that was not antagonized out of you."

Mary raised her eyebrows at that last part but he raised his hand to silence anything she would have said and continued, "And since most of what you stole has been returned I have a proposition for you."

Mary sat back and looked at him, "I am listening," she said. "You will live and work here in Erebor for one year. You will receive wages like every other citizen, but with restitution taken out. After the year is up, you will be free to go or stay, if you wish… And before you ask, your family has also been offered a home here and there will be jobs available for them. We make no discrimination on what jobs people can do here. If you are able to perform the duties, that will be your job," Thorin finished speaking and waited.

Mary stared at him in disbelief, all antagonism gone for the moment. "Why… why are you trying to help us?" she asked, confused. "I stole from you and yet you want to help us. I do not understand."

"I believe that you would not have stolen anything if your family had not been in dire need," Thorin answered. Mary continued to stare at him as if seeing him for the first time. She could not remember how long it had been since someone had tried to help them.

"What is your decision or do you need more time?" he asked seeing her great confusion.

"No, I… I accept your offer," Mary said quietly, still not believing this turn of events.

"Good," he said, getting up and walking around the desk to stand in front of her. "Now, let me see your hands."

"What?!" she asked, leaning away from him.

"Your hands, unless you want to keep the shackles," He said.

"Oh," she said and lifted her hands to him.

Thorin unlocked the shackles and took them from her wrists, as he did this he said, "You and your family will be given three months to regain your health, then your year starts."

Mary nodded, "I understand," she replied. Thorin continued to stare at her for a minute, but Mary did not notice, as she was trying to understand why he wanted to help her family and why he was being so compassionate.

Thorin turned and walked toward the door. "Come with me," he said. He led her through several passages and finally they stopped at a door. He knocked and the door opened and he motioned Mary in ahead of him. As soon as she stepped through the door, she was greeted by the happy cries of her family. Soon she was surrounded and she told them she had accepted the King's offer and watched Father shake Thorin's hand.

As she continued to watch them, she could not figure out Thorin Oakenshield. Was he like other noblemen or was he different? She was not sure if she completely trusted him. She had learned- very painfully- not to trust anyone outside her family, especially dwarf men, and to not let her guard down. But she would bide her time and see what happened. Who knew what the next year would hold?


	5. (5) Settling in and sleepless nights

4 Months Later

Mary and Donald walked towards a large, cleared out field on the east side of the mountain, following the sounds of the other guards at practice. They had made this walk together for the last month.

The changes over the past four months had been profound. After Mary's reunion with her family, they had all been assigned living quarters. Her parents, Joseph, and herself, were all on the same level, just a couple of passageways apart and Donald and his family where one level down.

A month ago, after the head healer, an old dwarf named Oin, had deemed them healthy enough to start working, Donald and Mary had been assigned to the City guard. Joseph was working in the treasure rooms, ironically enough, under a dwarf named Gloin; he was learning to handle some of the city accounts. Kaylah, while the kids were at school, worked with a group of women who tended to the crops that were grown in fields to the west of the mountain. Father had gone to work keeping the machines in the mines and forges running and Mother was working alongside Becky as a healer.

Mary's quarters were roomier than she expected, but anything would seem so after months living out of a wagon, or the last few hours stuck in a dungeon cell. She had a small, but decent, sized sitting room and bedroom. There was a small fireplace in both rooms and, to her surprise, one of the few exterior windows.

"He's either testing me or mocking me," she said of Thorin, looking at the window which faced southwest.

The hardest thing for her to get used to was the communal baths. Even though she was use to bathing around the other women in her family, Mary was not comfortable showing her scars to the other women on her level. She would wait until the baths were unoccupied before she took her turn.

After three months of decent meals and a good place to live, her family had regained their health and Donald and herself were subjected to tests of their abilities with their different weapons so as to decide their rank in the guard. Today they would find out their rank and which troop wanted them.

"I wonder if one of us will be challenged today," Donald said. It was a challenge day. Twice a week, guards were allowed to challenge one another. It was a test of skill in fighting, the reward being bragging rights for the victor. Any weapon could be used, but no serious injury to one's opponent was allowed.

"I think I would like to challenge King Thorin," Donald continued.

"No, you don't," Mary said, remembering her fight with Thorin four months earlier. It had taken everything she had to just get away. Not to mention she had watched Thorin fight a challenge last week and knew he had not even used a quarter of his strength and skill against his opponent.

Donald looked at her and said, "What, you don't think I can beat him?"

"No, you could not," Mary said confidently. "Besides, no one challenges him- he challenges you. And you have only won two challenges and lost one. He is undefeated," Mary continued, she did not add that she had won all three of her challenges, not feeling the need to remind him of this fact.

Donald shook his head. Mary could tell he was slightly offended and they walked the rest of the way in silence. Reaching the fields, Mary stopped and watched the others at practice for a few seconds. It still surprised her how quickly most of them had accepted her and Donald. It was clear that Thorin's judgment was trusted and unquestioned- once he made a decision, it was accepted.

"Alright everyone, gather round!" Dwalin yelled. Mary and Donald ran over and joined everyone else. "As you know we have two new guardsmen, Donald Sapphire and his younger sister Mary. They have been tested for their ability and have even gone through a few challenges. As for their ranks, I have chosen Donald to join my troop as a sergeant," he announced.

Donald looked surprised and happy. Mary turned and congratulated him, watching as he went and joined his new troop, who welcomed him with cheers and rough slaps on the back. He would be working with Chase, which was good since they were already good friends. Mary stood and waited nervously for her rank announcement.

"Captain Tauriel had chosen to take Mary into her troop as a Lieutenant," Dwalin announced finally and Mary was shocked. She looked over at Tauriel in surprise.

"Well, you fought good and tested well, I believe you can handle the responsibility," Tauriel said with a nod. Mary was realizing that Tauriel could become a good friend. One that she could well use. Mary nodded back and joined her troop.

"Congratulations," said a voice behind her. Mary turned and found Thorin standing behind her.

She bowed and said a little stiffly, "Thank you my Lord." She still could not figure him out, but did not feel the need to be antagonistic towards him; neither did she feel comfortable around or friendly towards him. Though, she conceded, he seemed different from other noblemen.

"As we all know, it's another challenge day!" Dwalin said. This got everyone's attention and it went silent. "Who's challenging first?" he asked.

"I will!" shouted one dwarf man from Dwalin's troop, "I challenge our new sergeant." Dwalin nodded and Donald and the dwarf man stepped out.

After a fight that lasted about ten minutes, Donald pinned his opponent down and Mary heard the words "I yield." And with that, Donald had won. The man knelt in front of Donald and offered his sword, hilt first. Donald touched the hilt, the man rose, and they clasped forearms, walking back to their troop.

"Do we have any other challengers?" Dwalin asked.

"Yes," said a woman from Mary's new troop. "I challenge our new lieutenant," she said, confidently and Mary stepped forward. The woman, whose name was Ma`z, was quite a bit shorter than her but strong and she fought with an ax, which difficult to defend against with long blades, but she was slow and Mary disarmed her and pinned her against a tree within a few minutes.

"Do you yield?" she asked and Ma`z glared at her with a look verging on hatred, being one of the few that had not yet accepted Mary. But, seeing she had no way out she growled out a reluctant,"I yield." After Mary had accepted her knelt submission, Ma`z gave her a dirty look and stomped off. A few more challenges were fought and then practice ended with the announcement of duty rosters for the week. Mary's troop had been rotated to early morning shift.

* * *

Walking back, Mary had a chance to talk with Tauriel. "Won't some people be upset you chose me for lieutenant?" Mary asked.

"Some may, but they will get over it," Tauriel answered with a shrug.

"But I have only been with the guard a month. Besides some of the other guards don't seem too keen about having a…" Mary stopped, then spat the words out, "Half-breed over them!"

Tauriel looked at her sympathetically and said, "That may have been the attitude in the part of the Iron Hills where you lived, but not here. Anyways, you have shown more proficiency with weapons- particularly the bow and arrow and long blades- than anyone else in the out troop and I don't doubt your loyalty and honor."

"Not that way here?" Mary asked softly. "Thorin himself has referred to me as a half-breed," she told Tauriel.

Tauriel smiled and said, "He was angry that you were stealing and about to get away. I'm sure kneeing him in the groin did not help much either."

Mary could not help but laugh. Then she turned and asked, as innocently as possible, "I thought he just twisted his ankle?"

Tauriel laughed and said, "Seriously, I hope you will consider staying here permanently."

Mary looked at her, all humor gone. "I don't know. Right now my family is safe and happy. But we have been like that in other places too. You never know what the future holds," she said and then continued to walk back quietly, lost in thought.

* * *

Later that night, after everyone was in bed, Mary was still up. Tossing and turning, she just could not get to sleep. Knowing it was useless, since she usually did not sleep soundly unless she was really tired or her mother gave her some medication, she got up and dressed, leaving her quarters, and heading to the stables.

"Maybe a little while grooming Silver would help," she thought. Silver was happy to see her and looking for treats, as usual. Like the rest of the family, the ponies had regained their strength and health over the last few months. Silver was now as beautiful as Mary always knew she would be at full health.

"Hey girl, did you miss me?" Mary spoke to her, as always, in elvish. The ponies seemed to respond to that language better than any other, so it was all she spoke to them. Mary grabbed her old saddle bag that contained her few brushes and began working on Silver. Mary had worked for about thirty minutes, talking off and on to Silver Mist, when the pony turned her head and gave a sudden nicker.

"Silver, hush, we don't want to wake anyone." Mary scolded the pony, not turning from what she was doing.

"Not planning to try and escape, are you?" said Thorin from behind her.

Mary jumped at the sound of his voice and turned quickly, dropping the brush in her hand, disconcerted that the Intuition had not warned her that he was there.

"What! N-no!" Mary stammered, clearly caught off guard. Thorin smiled a little at her obvious discomfort.

"Good, I would hate to have to hunt you down again, and I know Tauriel would be disappointed. She caused quite a stir choosing you for lieutenant. The woman who challenged you today thought she was up for it. You may have an enemy in her," he warned.

Mary bent down and pick-up the brush, then turned and began working on Silver Mist again. "She's not the first and I doubt she will be the last," she remarked with a sigh. Mary wished he would leave because, for a reason she could not fathom, he made her nervous and jumpy, and that made her mad. She disliked not being in control of herself and whenever he was around she felt her emotions very close to the surface, mainly her temper.

Thorin was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Why are you down here at this hour?"

"Couldn't sleep," Mary answered shortly, moving around Silver Mist, putting the pony between her and Thorin.

"And this is what you do when you can't sleep?" he asked, moving so he could see her face. Mary kept working and did not answer. She knew her weapons were hung on the stall door, but she was uncomfortable knowing they were not within reach and Thorin just stood there watching her.

"Go away!" she thought angrily. Thorin sighed, looking frustrated, then finally turned and left.

"Finally," Mary thought still not understanding her feelings around him, but she was sure she should not let her guard down, especially around Thorin Oakenshield.

oOo

Things continues steadily for the next two months. The family settled in and almost everyone made friends. Mary though, still stayed guarded around most people. Excepting Becky, Chase and Tauriel, Mary did not get close to anyone else outside her family. Mary knew her mother was concerned about her and how isolated she kept herself, but Mary tried to show her that she was just fine.

Unfortunately, something happened one day that Mother just could not let go. They were leaving the baths, as Mary was finally getting more comfortable in using them when other people there, when they overheard some women making nasty comments about Mary and lo and behold, it was Ma`z and her friends.

"You know why they left the Iron Hills," Ma`z said and they started to talk about the same rumors and lies that had chased the family from their other homes. Mom looked horrified and angry that those lies has caught up to them already.

* * *

"Well she is your lieutenant, make her talk to you," Thorin said, as he was dining with Kili and Tauriel the next evening.

"If she wants to talk about it she will, but there is no forcing her, as you should know by now. Why are you so caught up in knowing what happened anyway?" Tauriel asked.

"I don't like the rumors that have started to circulate. I would like to know what is the truth," Thorin answered. Tauriel looked at Kili, who was hiding behind his mug , trying not to laugh.

"Are you sure that's the only reason?" Kili asked his uncle.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Thorin snapped back at him.

"Only that you seem rather preoccupied with her," Kili pointed out with a smile.

"I just sympathize with what that family has been through!" Thorin insisted angrily.

"If you say so!" Kili said laughing. Thorin glared at his nephew, then got up and left without another word.

"Hmmmm… this could get interesting," Kili said to Tauriel, continuing to laugh.

* * *

Later that night, Mary was back in the stables when the feeling of not being alone came over her again. This time she had kept her weapons on her. Turning around, sure enough, there was Thorin standing in the doorway to the stables. As he walked towards her, Mary noticed that he looked angry.

"Can't sleep again?" he asked as he stopped and leaned on the stall door. Mary stopped her brushing and bowed slightly, but then went back to work on Silver Mist without answering.

"Rumors have been circulating about you and your family," Thorin said.

Mary sighed, "I wondered how long it would take for them to reach here," she said sadly, "You wanted to know why we moved around so much. Well now you know. We would settle somewhere, then a few weeks or months would pass and then the rumors would start. We would then one-by-one start to lose whatever jobs we had managed to find and eventually be forced to move on… How long until that happens here, I wonder?" Mary asked, her hands stilling at their work.

"It won't!" Thorin replied, "I offered you a year and that's what you will get. After that it is your choice what you do." Mary just shook her head and began working again.

"You don't believe me?" he asked, and when she did not answer he began to get angry. "It would be easier to defend against these rumors if I knew the whole truth!" he snapped.

Mary froze for a second, then, knowing she should leave, grabbed her bag and opened the stall door, trying to go around him. But, when she tried to walk past, Thorin grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Leaving already?" he asked sarcastically.

"I'm tired," she lied looking straight ahead and not at him.

"Don't lie to me! I am willing to bet that you have not had a decent night's sleep in three years!" Thorin said angrily.

"It's none of your business!" Mary snapped, pulling her arm away and leaving as quickly as she could.

* * *

Mary left early for the practice fields the next day, wanting to get in some shots with her bow before troop exercises for the day began. Since she had woken up that morning, the Intuition had been telling her that something was about to happen. Not liking the feeling, but not being able to do anything about it, Mary took her weapons and headed out.

"Gather round!" came Dwalin's usual call later that morning. "Well it's another challenge day and we have a special treat," Dwalin continued, once everyone had gathered, and suddenly all Mary could feel was dread. "King Thorin has decided to issue a challenge today. The challenge goes out to a guard that is as of now undefeated and has become one of our best fighters. Lieutenant Sapphire step forward!"

Mary stepped out of the crowd and into the challenge area. "Oh no!" she thought as she faced Thorin. Even though she was stronger and healthier than the last time they had fought, Mary knew this was going to be difficult. He was not going to underestimate her this time. Taking a deep breath, Mary took out her long blades and placed the flats against her forearms and assumed her fighting stance. Thorin drew out his sword and ax and they began to circle one another.

"Let's see what tricks you have left," Thorin said.

"How about we see if you remember that little lesson from last time," Mary replied, "Or are you going to twist your ankle again?"

Thorin glared at her, obviously remembering what she was referring to. Then he attacked, swinging his ax first.

"I have to get that ax away from him," she thought after dodging and blocking for several minutes.

Getting an idea, Mary dodged away from him and sheathed her long blades, then grabbed several throwing knives from her belt and, keeping herself out of his reach, started throwing them one at a time at his feet, getting closer with each throw. When he realized how close she was it was too late. He swung his axe and she did a back flip, avoiding the blade. Landing on her hands and kicking her feet up as hard as she could, she caught his wrist with one foot and the heft of the axe with the other foot. The axe went flying out of his hand, landing beyond the crowd with a loud clang! Landing back on her feet, Mary had just enough time to duck and roll away from the swing of Thorin's sword.

Mary came back to her feet and drew her long blades again. Resuming her fighting stance, Mary faced Thorin with a smile. "How's that for a new trick?" she taunted.

Instead of answering her, Thorin attacked even more ferociously. After a couple more minutes, Mary tried an old trick. She flipped her blades upright and crossed them, catching Thorin's sword on the downward stroke. Mary, pretending to buckle under the pressure, suddenly dropped down into a crouch. But Thorin did not lose his balance as she had hoped. Unfazed, she still spun around and lashing out with a foot, trying to sweep his feet out from under him, he managed to jump over her foot, giving her time to somersault over and kick a leg up, catching him in the stomach before he landed. Thorin slammed down hard on his back, losing his sword. Mary jumped up quickly, put a knee on his chest and one of her blades at his throat, yet, in her over confidence, did not secure his right arm.

"Do you yield?" Mary asked triumphantly.

He glared up at her, "Not yet," he growled as an answer. Mary looked confused for a second, then his left hand came up and grabbed her right hand, the one that held the blade to his throat, and his right hand grabbed her left leg at the knee, Thorin rolled and threw her off. Mary landed hard, losing her blades and before she could grab one of her other weapons he was on her. He grabbed both of her wrists in one hand. They rolled one more time before he managed to straddle her stomach and pinned her legs with his. He hauled her arms above her head and pinned them there. Mary struggled and bucked until he took a belt knife and pressed it to her throat.

Mary fought the flashback that tried to break through. One of another man holding her down and another blade at her throat. She came back to Thorin's face above her and she knew he had just witnessed her fight the fear from the confused look in his eyes.

"Do you yield?" he asked softly. Mary struggled a bit more, but could not get free. "Well?" he asked pressing the blade closer.

Mary glared. "Yes, I yield," she said through clenched teeth, "Now. GET. OFF!"

Thorin smirked at her and stood up. Ignoring his outstretched hand, Mary got to her feet and picked up her long blades. Knowing what was expected of her, since she had lost, Mary knelt down and held her long blades up to him, hilt first. But instead of just touching the hilts, he placed his hands around hers. Mary looked up at him surprised, as he pulled her to her feet. He then nodded to her and walked away.

Mary walked back to her troop, confused at the congratulations she was receiving.

Tauriel explained as they walked back to the mountain. "That's the closest anyone has ever come to defeating Thorin. Also, he pulled you to your feet instead of accepting your submission. That's saying that he thinks you're a trustworthy enough guard that you don't have to be lower than the others around you… That should also put a lot of those rumors to rest. He's only conferred that honor on two other guardsmen."

"Who?" Mary asked. "Dwalin and myself," Tauriel answered.

Mary thought about this the rest of the way back. Thorin did not know all that had happened three years ago, yet he was defending her.

"Why?" she asked herself, but she had no answer, she just didn't.


	6. (6) Durin's Day

As summer gave way to autumn, even Mary found herself settling in. With Thorin's actions after the challenge, most of the rumors had stopped. Guard duty was challenging and the different posts kept her from getting bored. As her work ethic and loyalty to her troop earned her a respect she had never experienced before, Mary began to consider staying in Erebor. Her family had settled nicely and the children where happy, so it was tempting to think that they may have found somewhere to call home. But even with this, her nights spent in the stables or wandering the city continued, as she still had trouble sleeping. Thorin had been right, though she would never tell him so, she had not really had a good night's sleep in three years.

One night, while out walking, something caught her attention; the light of a torch heading deeper into the mountain. Mary stepped behind a pillar, not wanting to draw any attention to herself, but curios to know who else would be up at this hour. As she peeked out, she saw Thorin headed down some steps that she had never noticed before. Being as quiet as she could, she decided to follow him.

They kept going down, until Mary was sure they were deeper than even the dungeons. Finally he came to some halls lined with sealed doors and Mary, hiding around a corner, realized where they were. These were the tombs under the mountain. She had only heard about them but never seen them. At the same time she realized that she should have never followed him, it was a horrible intrusion for her to be here.

Turning to leave before she was discovered, she stopped when she heard Thorin speaking quietly, but did not see anybody else there. He spoke so softly, that even with her keen hearing she could not hear what he was saying.

Looking around the corner, she saw him standing before a tomb. As she watched him, trying to figure out what he was doing, he lifted his hand and touched an engraved stone tablet above the sealed door of the tomb.

"He's crying!" Mary thought, starting to feel extremely guilty for having followed him and for having intruded on what was obviously a private moment. After several minutes, he patted the tablet then turned and started to walk back toward her.

"Uh-oh!" Mary thought and darted into a niche behind a large, nearby statue. She stayed hidden until his footsteps had faded on the stairs. She then came out and grabbed an unlit torch from the wall and taking some flint from her pocket, lit it. She, too, was about to leave, but her curiosity overwhelmed her again. She had to know who's tomb it was that he had visited. Mary made her way down the rest of the stairs and over to the tomb. The runes on it read:

**Fili, Son of Dis,**

**Nephew of Thorin Oakenshield**

**Older brother of Kili**

**Of the line of Durin**

**Slain in the Battle of Five Armies**

Mary looked back up the stairs in wonder and sadness. Her words from months past came ringing back in her ears; "Don't talk to me about pain and grief, when you don't know what real pain and real grief are!" she had said.

In that moment, she realized how wrong she had been. "He does know real grief and pain," she thought.

Mary then put her torch out and climbed the stairs, and in that moment she made a vow to never tell anyone what she had witnessed. He would never know she had followed him. After that night, whenever they met, it was amicably, though he did not know what had wrought such a change in her. The antagonism was starting to fade and, for the first time in years, Mary started to let her guard down. All-in-all she was as happy as she could ever remember being.

A month or so later, as autumn was giving away to winter, the whole city was getting ready for the week-long celebration of Durin's Day. There would be dancing every night, and every night would end with the King's Waltz, in which Thorin choose one woman for a special dance, just the two of them and on one else on the dance floor.

All the single (and some not so single) women were excited about this announcement. Mary did not know how to dance, but was looking forward to attending with her family.

Her mother pulled out an older dress that had been Mary's older sister's at one time. Luckily, it had barely been worn so it still looked decent. Her mother spent days making sure it fit properly, as Christine was both shorter and slimmer than Mary. The dress was dark green, with full sleeves that had yellow and white flowers embroidered around the ends of the sleeves and around the square neckline. It was girded around the hips with an embroidered belt of a silver material (Mary was sure it used to be part of a wrap that her mother had once owned) that had a panel that hung down from the middle to just above the hemline of the dress in the front.

Mary left her hair down and it fell to just below her shoulder blades. And though it had grown in the last three years, it was still much shorter than most of the other women. Mary tried not to think about this as she headed down with her family the first night.

All of the people would be presented to the King as he entered and she, as a single woman, would be standing with her parents. Mary was determined to have fun tonight before she had to leave. She had the early shift in the morning. Mary entered the grand hall and waited with her parents for the procession to begin. Everyone turned at once and Thorin, Kili, Tauriel, and the rest of the nobles entered and everyone bowed or curtsied as they passed. Thorin assumed the dais and welcomed everyone to the celebration of Durin's Day. After the short speech, the party officially began.

Mary left her parents, who were talking with some neighbors of theirs, and started walking around, greeting people she had gotten to know and just taking in the sights and sounds. She smiled at Becky as she and Chase twirled by on the dance floor.

"You look nice tonight," Tauriel said as Mary walked up.

"Thank you, so do you," Mary replied.

"Thank you," Tauriel said. "Don't you think Mary looks nice tonight, Thorin?" Tauriel called over Mary's shoulder to Thorin, who had just walked up with Kili. Mary looked wide-eyed at her, but Tauriel just looked innocently back. Mary turned to face Thorin and curtsied.

"That would be an understatement," he replied, picking up her hand and placing a light kiss on the back of it. "You look beautiful," he complimented.

"Thank you, Milord," Mary said softly, and blushing deep red when she noticed he was staring. She suddenly realized that this was the first time he had ever seen her in a proper dress and with her hair down.

Fortunately for her, Thorin was called away at that moment and she got a chance to collect her thoughts. She could not figure out her ridiculous reaction to Thorin's simple compliment. Luckily, as the party carried on, Mary saw little of Thorin as he circulated the room, which was good since she still could not figure out her reaction to him earlier and did not want to make a fool out of herself.

Mary looked at the clock and seeing how late it was, made her rounds to say goodnight. She was on her way out the door when a voice stopped her.

"Leaving so early?" it asked.

Mary stopped and turned her head to see Thorin leaning against the wall by the door.

"Yes, I have early shift in the morning." she replied, "It was a great party!"

"But I don't think I saw you on the dance floor," Thorin pointed out.

"No, I don't dance," she replied.

"Don't dance? Every woman dances," he stated.

"Not me," she said, seriously. "I don't dance." Mary repeated.

"Don't or did no one ask?" he asked, stepping away from the wall and up to her side with his hand out.

"Oh crap!" Mary thought. "No!" she whispered desperately, panic settling over her. "I can't dance! I don't know how!" she exclaimed. Thorin stepped closer, a look of supreme confidence on his face.

"Come on," he said, obviously not believing her, thinking she was playing coy.

"I am telling you, I can't dance. I don't know how!" Mary said, fully panicking now. "Why is he doing this?" she thought.

"It's all in who's leading," he said, extending his hand to her again.

At that moment, the opening notes announcing the King's Waltz were played from the orchestra. Everyone turned and looked at them and Mary knew she had no choice. She put her hand in his and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor.

What had she done wrong? Why was he purposefully humiliating her like this? Questions kept circling around in Mary's head even as she knew she was about to make a complete and utter fool of herself in front of the entire city. Thorin put one hand on her waist and held her other up and to the side, while Mary put her hand on his shoulder.

The music started and the first thing she did was step on his foot, then stumbled trying to correct herself. Thorin frowned slightly and pulled her a little closer for balance, but she just stepped on his foot again. After that, Mary lost count on how many times her toes were stepped on, how many times she stepped on his or she stumbled.

She was just happy when the music ended and she curtsied to him and he lead her off the floor. After he left her with her parents, Mary started to hear the snarky, catty comments and laughter at her expense start up.

Knowing who it was, but not daring to turn around and confront the women; Mary left and went back to her quarters. Locking the door, Mary slid down to the floor and sat there and cried. This is what she got for letting her guard down! She knew she should have never let her guard down around him! She had been wrong about him! She had thought he was different, but he was just like every other nobleman she had met. He took whatever he wanted, no matter who it hurt, and tonight it had been her dignity and whatever respect she had managed to earn here! Well, she would not be making the mistake of trusting him again!

oOo

The next six nights, Mary volunteered to work double shifts to avoid the party. She woke up the fourth morning starting to not feel well.

"It's just a cold coming on," she thought and went on with her day. Later that day, she overheard some women talking while she was running an errand for the troop;

"You would think he would have picked a more graceful dance partner for the first King's Waltz," one said.

"What? You don't think the lieutenant was a graceful dancer?" another asked sarcastically, laughing.

"Only if trolls danced," remarked another, "I mean, seriously, what proper woman can't dance?"

"Well, she is only a half-breed and not a proper woman," replied the first.

Mary walked away quickly, not wanting to listen but knowing things like this were being said everywhere since that first night. After this, she avoided the main halls as much as possible. As the rest of the week passed, she prayed for the celebration to end so that life could resume to normalcy.

Finally, the seventh and final day of the celebration dawned. Mary got out of bed feeling exhausted and sick, but she still got up and headed for her shift, glad that tomorrow was her free day and she could rest. As the night closed in, the temperatures dropped and a steady freezing rain started to fall.

Mary was glad when it was her turn to go to the guard room. Looking forward to warming herself by the fire, Mary hurried in and hung up her dripping cloak, hoping it would be somewhat dry before she had to go out again. She was standing in front of the fire, trying to get a little warm at least, when the Intuition suddenly told her she was not alone. Mary peeked over her shoulder, slowly pulling out a throwing knife and seeing movement in the shadows. When Thorin stepped into the light, she sighed and put the knife back on her belt.

"Great," she thought. She bowed slightly and then walked over to the table and poured herself a mug of hot cider, hoping to chase off the pervading chill that she could not escape.

"I have not seen you at the party since the first night," Thorin said.

"I have been letting the other guards attend, seeing as they would enjoy it more than I would," she answered.

"I have seen some of the others for two or three nights. I do believe my order was for guard rotation so that all would attend," Thorin said.

"I did attend," she replied shortly, sipping her cider.

"One night! It's starting to look like you are purposefully avoiding attending… Now why is that?" he asked angrily. Mary glared at him.

"As if you don't know!" she spat furiously at him, "And if you don't, I am not going to enlighten you!" Her words angered him.

"I am ordering you down there now!" he snapped.

Mary slammed her mug down. "What more do you want? Haven't you humiliated me enough?!" she yelled at him.

Thorin glared at her, "I did not know that asking you to dance was a humiliation!" he said sarcastically.

Mary pointed a finger at him. "I told you…" she stopped and balled her hand into a fist, trying to get control of herself. She would not cry in front of this man!

"I told you," she began again, more in control, "That I could not dance. Yet you arrogantly persisted! Asking in such a way, in front of everyone, that you knew I could not say no, not without bringing shame on my family! I thought you had some honor, that you were different from the rest. But I was wrong! These last few months I almost thought of you as a…" she almost said 'friend' but stopped, shaking head.

"Why am I telling you this? It's not like you even care!" Mary then turned and quickly grabbed her still dripping cloak.

"Where are you going?" Thorin asked, sounding shaken.

"I'm not hungry," Mary replied and knowing she was about to lose it and start crying, threw her cloak about her shoulders and ran out the door. The last thing she heard was "Mary!" It was Thorin desperately calling her back, but she just ran out into the rain.

After the confrontation in the guard room, Mary needed to be alone, so she relieved the guard on the southwest tower, and that was where she stayed for the rest of the shift. She cried then, her tears mixing with the rain. She could not understand why she felt so wretched and why there was a pain inside her, as if something had been crushed. The rain stopped sometime after nine in the evening, but the temperature kept dropping until the water left on her cloak began to freeze. She was more than relieved to see shift change at two hours later. She walked back to her quarters and, instead of going to the baths, went straight to bed.


	7. (7) Sickness and Guilt

Mother had Kaylee for the day, as Donald had taken the boys out for some Father/Son time and Kaylah was at work in the fields.

"Do you want to go and see if Aunt Mary is up?" she asked the little girl.

"Yeah!" Kaylee exclaimed and they walked to Mary's quarters. When they knocked on the door, Mother noticed it was open. "Strange," she thought, "Mary never leaves her door unlocked." Mother and Kaylee entered and called for Mary, the only answer they received was a low moan from the bedroom. Upon entering the bedroom, Mom saw that Mary was still in bed, but knew something was wrong and walked over quickly to check on her. Upon touching her, she noted that the girl was burning up with fever. Mary's eyes fluttered open at her Mother's touch.

"We are here Mary and I am sending for the head healer," Mother told her. Mary could only nod.

"Kaylee, I need you to run to Oin's office," Mom said. "You remember where it is?" Kaylee nodded. "Good girl, tell him that Aunt Mary is very ill and that we need him to come quickly." Kaylee nodded again and took off running as fast as she could.

oOo

"I told you that woman you danced with was too large for it," Dwalin said with a laugh. He was sitting in Oin's office with Thorin, as Thorin was waiting for the medication that Oin was mixing for him.

"It's just the damp and cold settling into the old wound on my shoulder," Thorin replied and Dwalin just laughed.

"Here you are," Oin said, "Now remember just six drops… and it will probably make you sleep," Thorin nodded and got up to leave.

"Where did you run off to last night?" Dwalin asked.

"I had something to see to," Thorin replied.

"Well, you had a lot of disappointed women when you did not show for-" Dwalin was interrupted as Kaylee burst through the door. Seeing Thorin and Dwalin, she froze for a moment, but quickly turned to Oin and said, "Nana needs the head healer!"

Dwalin knelt down in front of her and asked kindly, "What's wrong, poppet?" and Kaylee started to cry. "Aunt Mary is very ill and Nana said to go get the head healer quickly," she said through tears.

Oin nodded, "I will get my things." Dwalin stood and took a step toward Kaylee, who backed up in fear. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, "But we need to get you back to your Aunt. She can't get better without you, can she?" This got a smile and a nod from the little girl and Dwalin took her hand and led her back out the door with Oin trotting off after him. No one noticed that Thorin was still standing there as they left.

Over the next three days, they tried several medicines and herbs but could not get the fever to break. Friends and troopmates came and went, but Mary was too sick and feverish to notice. On the evening of the third day, Thorin was in the guard room looking over scouting reports, as orcs had once again been spotted close by, when Tauriel came in from looking in on Mary.

"How's your lieutenant?" he asked her. Looking worried, Tauriel shook her head. "Not good. It's been three days and the fever still has not broken. They have tried almost everything. If the fever does not break soon, we may lose her," This shocked Thorin.

"She could die," he thought. "Almost everything?" he asked out loud. "Yes, Oin tried to get her to drink some Fever Few tea, but she refused. Apparently she saw her grandfather die of a bad reaction to it and has refused to touch it since," Tauriel explained. Thorin understood, as he hated Fever Few tea as well, but it was the best and quickest for breaking a fever. Suddenly, he got an idea and left the guard room without another word. His mother use to mix Fever Few tea with cooked blue berries and sugar, to get him to drink it.

He got what he needed then went back to his apartments and mixed up the draught. He added three drops of the medication that Oin had mixed for him, then he put the draught in a small, lidded, wooden mug and headed down to Mary's quarters. He was crossing one of the main halls when he heard her parents' voices.

"I just want to check on her. Kaylah had some foolish idea about leaving the shutters over her window open and letting the cold air break the fever. I just want to make sure she did not do that," her mother said.

"She would not have done that Kathy. You need to let her rest, something she won't do if you are constantly hovering. You need to rest too," Father said.

"I can't lose her!" Mom cried. "I know. You won't, she's a fighter," Father soothed and her mother nodded and let herself be led away back to their quarters.

Thorin watched them go and then continued on to Mary's quarters. Once there, he looked around to make sure no one saw him enter and went in, closing the door quietly behind him. Looking around, he saw her cloak hanging by the fireplace. Thorin frowned at seeing how worn it was and how many times it had been sewn. He could even still see where his arrows had pierced it. Shaking his head, he crossed the small sitting room and quietly entered the bedroom. It was dim, but he could see Mary curled up in a ball on the bed with her eyes closed. His gaze drifted to the window and he saw that it was as her mother had feared; the window shutters were wide open and it was freezing in the room. Though Mary was under the blankets, she was still shivering violently. Thorin closed the door and hurriedly crossed to the window, leaving the mug on the mantle over the almost dead fire. He closed and locked the shutters, then grabbed some kindling out of the tinder box and arranged the logs in the fireplace. When he got the fire burning brightly, Mary stirred.

"Who's there?" she asked in a weak voice. Thorin stood up, grabbed the mug and moved to the side of the bed, sitting in a chair that was pulled up close and leaning forward to touch her cheek, alarmed at how warm it was.

Mary stared at him, eyes bright with fever. "Why are you here?" she asked. But before he could answer, she answered herself. "I must be dreaming again…" She believed him to be a delusion brought on by the high fever.

"I brought you something that will help you get better," he said quietly. Thorin tried to hand her the mug, but saw she could not hold on to it with how violently she was still shivering. So, he got up and sat on the edge of the bed, then put an arm around her shoulders and lifted her up into a sitting position.

"No Fever Few," she said, leaning against him.

"I know," he answered, taking the lid off the mug and holding it to her lips.

Mary was surprised by the taste and smell. "Blueberries? Now I know I am dreaming," she thought as she took a sip.

"No. Drink all of it," he ordered. Mary complied and as she drank the rest her eyes focused on the handle of the mug. Strangely detailed for a dream, it was carved into a rose in full bloom, with the blossom just peaking over the rim of the mug. When she finished, he laid her back down and tucked the blankets closely around her, but she just could not stop shivering. "I'm so cold," she thought as she closed her eyes.

Thorin noticed that she was still shivering and knew that he had to get her warm if the draught was to have any chance of working. He made a decision and stood up removing his belt, jerkin, and overtunic. Still wearing his under tunic and pants he stepped back toward the bed. Mary heard him moving around but paid him little attention, only thinking about wanting to be warm and to sleep, when suddenly the blankets were pulled off of her.

Mary' eyes flew open, "I'm c-cold!" she protested.

"I know," he answered, "We need to get you warm."

"Then g-give me back the b-blankets," she stammered.

"In a moment," he said as he bent down and picked her up in his arms. Mary cried out weakly and grabbed a hold of his shoulders, looking in his eyes trying to figure out what he was doing.

"This is a strange dream!" she thought. Thorin sat down on the bed with his back to the head board and held her close to his side. He then pulled the blankets over both of them.

"What are you doing?" she asked trying to push back out of his arms.

"Getting you warm as quickly as possible," he replied, tightening his arms around her and settling her face against his neck. "Just relax. I won't bite," he said. Mary tried to fight it , but she started to feel warm and drowsy. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt the urge to cry and she fought to hold it in.

"Why was he being so caring?" was her last thought before the tears came. Thorin was startled when her tears fell on his neck. He had never seen her cry before and it hurt him to see it.

"Why are you crying?" he asked kindly. But his kind tone was too much and caused the flood gates to open. Mary started crying harder. After a few minutes, she was able to articulate her thoughts. "What did I do wrong? I am so sorry for whatever it was. But why did you have to humiliate me like that? Everyone laughs at me now!"

Thorin looked at her, knowing what she was referring to and not knowing how to tell that it was not his intention to humiliate her. He had only wanted to dance with her. He sighed and held her tightly as she cried. Mary, though falling asleep, still felt she had to say something, "I am sorry I never learned to dance. There was no time." She then closed her eyes, laid her head in the crook of his shoulder, and drifted off to sleep.

When he thought she was sound asleep and warm enough, as she had stopped shivering, Thorin gently tried to get up. But her arms tightened around him.

"Please don't leave me alone. Don't want to be alone," she muttered. He settled back down, determined to stay until he was sure she was sound asleep.

A couple of hours later, he got up gently and settled her back down. Then touching her cheek and forehead, he was pleased to note that the fever had broken. Thorin put the rest of his clothing back on and, with one last long look at Mary, stoked the fire, grabbed the mug and left.

oOo

Mary opened her eyes the next day to see Kaylee sitting on the foot of her bed. "Nana! Aunt Mary is awake!" Kaylee yelled. "Kaylee! You don't need to yell!" said her mother entering the room.

"It's good to see you awake. You worried us when we could not wake you this morning," Mother said, turning to Mary. "This morning? What time is it?" Mary asked struggling to a sitting position. She still felt very weak and groggy.

"Around two in the afternoon," Mother replied, "But the fever broke and you needed the rest, so we let you sleep." Mary nodded. She had had such a strange dream last night. It was embarrassing to think about it now, so she did not even think about mentioning it to her mother. Mother, seeing the look on her face and mistaking it for exhaustion, said "Lie back down, you need your rest so you can recuperate.

It took two weeks for Mary to get back on her feet. Finally, one day, though still feeling a little weak but good enough to be up, Mary made her way to the practice fields. Tauriel had said she could rejoin the troop on light duty until Oin said she was healthy again.

"Should you be walking this far?" Tauriel asked coming up beside her.

"I'm alright," Mary responded. "I needed to get out, I love my family but their hovering is driving me insane!" Tauriel nodded in understanding and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

"Should she be out here?" Thorin asked Tauriel when he joined them on the practice fields, she and Dwalin bringing him the latest scouting reports. Tauriel turned and looked, already sure she knew who he was talking about, and saw Mary taking her turn at the targets with her bow.

"She is on light duty at the moment and says she is feeling better. Oin also told me this morning that she should be able to return to full duty any time," she told him.

"It's very cold today and her cloak is very worn," Thorin continued, sounding like he was talking more to himself. Tauriel smiled to herself at how Thorin had just revealed how closely he was watching Mary.

"You go tell her then," she suggested.

"I don't think she would take it too kindly coming from me," Thorin answered.

"Why?" Tauriel asked. "It looked like you two were getting along better these last few months."

"Yes but I may have unwittingly ruined that," he said. Tauriel looked at him for an explanation. "When I asked her to dance at the Durin's Day celebration, she told me that she could not dance and I did not believe her. I thought she was playing coy and insisted. Now, she thinks that I was purposefully humiliating her," he explained.

"Ah." Tauriel nodded, "She was telling the truth, wasn't she? She really could not dance, could she?" Tauriel asked.

"No and when I realized my mistake, it was too late. I had already led her out on the dance floor and she was humiliated in front of the whole city. I tried to help but to no avail. When she failed to show the next couple nights, I found out that she had been pulling double shifts and I went to the guard room to talk to her. We ended up arguing and she ran back out into the rain," Thorin finished, "That is why she fell ill."

"Well, it certainly sounds like you have something to apologize for," Tauriel said.

"How?" Thorin asked sarcastically.

"You could offer to teach her how to dance that waltz," she suggested, ignoring his sarcasm.

Thorin snorted, "You actually think she would let me teach her to dance?" he asked.

Tauriel smiled, "I did not say she would agree right away… you would have to be persistent," she said, starting to walk away, "Though you are right about her cloak, it has seen better days."

A few days later, Mary arrived back at her quarters from her first shift back on full duty. Just as she rounded the corner she noticed a package, wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine leaning against her door. Picking it up, she looked around, "Where did this come from? My birthday isn't for another two months," she thought. She took it inside and sat down with it.

Upon opening it she noticed a short note that simply said:

**"Mary- noticed your cloak has seen better days.**

**Hopefully this one will keep you warmer."**

It was simply signed: **"A friend."** The note was resting on a beautiful silver gray cloak with a silver clasp in the shape of a rose in bloom at the neck. "What a beautiful clasp," she thought, feeling like she had seen something like it before, but was not able to place it.

The next month passed uneventfully and Mary's strength slowly returned. And though she felt like he was watching her sometimes, she had no interactions with Thorin. Mary decided it needed to stay that way, since what happened at the Durin's Day celebration; she wanted nothing else to do with him. Just a few days after the cities of Dale and Esgaroth celebrated man's New Year, Mary was returning to the guard room after shift, and thinking of nothing but a hot bath, when she received a summons. A noble wanted to see her on a matter and she was to report to the tower room immediately.

The tower room just happened to be the room in which she had escaped out the window the first time she was here. "Oh well, so much for a hot bath. I hope said noble doesn't have a sensitive sense of smell," she thought.

When she arrived at the door to the tower room and knocked, she heard a muffled command of "Enter." Mary opened the door, looked in to see who it was she was summoned by and then swore vehemently in elfish.

There was Thorin, standing with his back to the door and no one else in the room. Mary almost turned and left when Thorin turned around and said, "Come in, Lieutenant." Having no other choice, and clearly not liking it, Mary entered the room.


	8. (8) Learning to dance

"Close the door," Thorin ordered.

Mary ground her teeth at his tone.

"Great!" What have I done now?!" she thought as she closed the door, wishing she was on the other side of it instead.

Upon turning around, Mary bowed to Thorin and then stared straight ahead. Determined that she would not let him get a reaction out of her this time, no matter what, she presented him with a blank- almost bored- expression.

Thorin looked at her and sighed when he caught sight of her expression.

"She is not going to make this easy," he thought, though it pleased him to see that she was wearing the cloak… even though he was sure that if she knew it was him who had given it to her, she would throw it right back in his face.

"It is good to see you well again," Thorin started.

"Yes, you highness, I am fully recuperated. Thank you for your concern," she responded stiffly and he sighed again.

Seeing that there would be no beating around the bush, he started on why he had summoned her.

"It has been brought to my attention that I have done you a wrong. I feel I must apologize and I would like to make up for it," he said.

Mary looked at him, her surprise showing despite her resolve to show nothing.

"Before the waltz, you did tell me you could not dance and I did not believe you and insisted. As a result, your reputation was harmed. I am sorry, as that was not my intent, and I would also like to offer recompense," Thorin said, but before he could continue, Mary interrupted;

"That won't be necessary! I accept your apology and…" she began, but he stopped her before she could continue, saying firmly, "But I think it is necessary!"

Mary could feel her temper rising and fought the temptation to give into it. "Why is he able to get under my skin so easily!?" she wondered, angry at herself and him.

"My offer is this," he continued, "I can teach you how to dance that waltz, so this situation never arises again." He sounded so arrogant and sure of her acceptance that Mary's resolve broke.

"Never arises again?! You high-handed, arrogant…" she threw a very foul insult at him in dwarfish. Thorin's eyebrows rose at the insult and he, starting to look angry, stepped toward her. But she continued before he could say anything. "You are the reason that situation arose in the first place! And yet you have the gall to stand there and act like it's your responsibility to rescue my reputation! And what's more, you seem like you expect me to be grateful for it!"

He stared at her as she yelled at him and thought that he caught a hint of fear beneath all that anger. Most likely the same fear he saw in her while she was in the dungeons.

"You can take you offer and GO SHOVE IT UP A DRAGON'S REAR!" Mary finished, then realizing what she had just done, closed her eyes, appalled that she had lost her temper so completely.

"May I be dismissed now?" she asked, embarrassment washing over her at the things she had just said to him and not quite knowing how to take them back.

"Yes. There's the door!" Thorin said angrily. Mary nodded, but just as her hand touched the handle he called out challengingly, "Leave if you're afraid!" Mary stopped, her hand tightened on the handle as her temper rose at the challenge.

She glared over her shoulder at him. "Afraid?" she scoffed, turning back to face him, "Of what?" she asked sarcastically. Thorin stepped up to her, leaving just a half an arm length between them.

"Of me," he stated.

Mary stared at him for a moment, stunned. "I am NOT afraid of YOU!" she said slowly. But even as she said it she knew it to be partially a lie. Was she afraid of him physically? No. But there was something between them that scared her to death. She could not afford to let him- or any man- that close again.

"Prove it!" he challenged, holding his hand out to her.

Mary glared at him, every good sense in her head telling her to turn around and walk out the door. A little voice telling her not to put herself in that position, in this man's arms, again. But the challenge he presented pricked her pride and she would not back down, so she placed her hand in his. Thorin nodded and walked her to the center of the room. Mary took a deep breath and listened to him as he explained the steps of the dance, determined to learn quickly and get this over with. What she was not prepared for was her reaction when he placed his hand at her waist and pulled her close into the correct position to start the dance. She started to tremble from head to toe.

"Get ahold of yourself!" she thought, scowling.

"You alright?" he asked, catching the scowl.

"I'm fine!" she snapped.

"Alright," he said, deciding not to push it and continued to explain the steps.

When he finished he said, "Let's try it, slowly."

Mary nodded and looked down at their feet to make sure she got it right. "No!" Thorin said and Mary's gaze jerked up, confused. "Look at me. Don't look down; always look at your partner." Mary nodded again, but could not keep her eyes on his and ended up not looking any higher than his collar. Every time he looked in her eyes and she in his, she felt light headed and unable to breathe or think properly.

"Okay let's try again," he said and Mary tried to concentrate on the steps without looking down at her feet. "Good," he said after they finished the steps through once, "See its easy… now again, a little faster."

And for the next couple of hours they worked on the steps to the dance. It was about supper time when Thorin finally called a halt. Mary was thankful to be done, as her toes were sore from being stepped on and her back was sore from holding herself so stiff as to not touch him unnecessarily.

"You need to relax into the dance and trust your partner. I won't bite," Thorin said and Mary stared at him when he said that last part. She shook her head trying to rid herself of the sense of déjà vu. It was almost as if she had heard him say that before, but could not remember where.

"You will get better the more we practice," he said and Mary looked at him startled.

"The more we practice?" she asked. "I was not planning on this being a regular lesson," she amended quickly.

"Well you won't fully get it down in just one try," Thorin told her, "But if you want to quit already…" he left the statement hanging and shrugged.

Mary glared at him. " I am no quitter!" she said fiercely

"Good, then how about we meet twice a week until you get it down properly. As you duty roster and my schedule allows, of course," he suggested nonchalantly.

"Of course," Mary said sarcastically.

"Good, then I will see you in two days," he said and then nodded and left the room.

"Oh, the arrogance of that man!" Mary thought, not believing what she had just been talked into.

oOo

For the next three months they practiced and try as she might, Mary found herself softening towards Thorin. She found him to be a kind and supportive teacher. He wasn't overly critical, and when he did correct her it was in a way such that it did not feel demeaning. But even as she recognized this change in herself, she did not dare let Thorin catch on, she kept it hidden. There was no way she was going to put herself, or her family, in that situation, in which she let her guard down and they were put in danger, again.

With her decision about whether or not to stay imminent, Mary had a lot to think about. One day, while spending time with her, her mother unwittingly breached the subject. "Mary, we have been talking and we have decided to stay. The kids are settled, we have good jobs and are accepted here. Now whatever you decide is your decision and we will respect that. But if you leave, you will be going alone. We love you… but we feel this is where we belong," she said.

"Have you written Christine and told her?" Mary asked.

"Yes, she should know soon," Mom replied. Mary nodded knowing she had a lot to think about. For hours Mary kept coming back to this conversation. The things her mother had said were good points and she, herself, had been thinking about staying a while back. The next day she went and talked to her mother again and after a while came to a decision.

"I have decided I am going to stay as well," Mary said. Her family was overjoyed at this decision and after informing Tauriel, who said she would get things taken care of for her, Mary started to settle in with the idea of Erebor as her home and not her prison.

oOo

Two months later, Mary arrived at the Tower room before Thorin for the first time. Today, she was wearing one of her casual dresses that she usually wore on her free days. It was light blue with a cream colored trim around the neck line and sleeves. Thorin has suggested that she wear a dress today so she could get used to doing the waltz in one.

Mary walked around the room while she waited, getting to really look around for the first time. She caught sight of something hidden on the corner of the mantle behind a small stack of books. Curious, she walked over and pulled it out of its hiding place and walked over to the open window to get a better look at it in the spring sunshine.

It was a small, lidded, wooden mug with the handle carved to look like a rose in full bloom. It's blossom just peaking over the rim of the mug. Mary stared at the mug, sure she had seen it before, but not sure where. When she took the lid off and caught the smell of blueberries a memory suddenly came to her. A memory that she had thought was just a dream, a hallucination brought on by a high fever. But this mug was proof… Thorin had been in her quarters that night. Mary's hands began to shake.

The door opened behind her.

"Oh, you're here already," Thorin said upon entering. Mary did not turn, frozen where she was in front of the window.

"Lieutenant?" he said questioningly. His voice finally got her attention and she turned around, the mug still in her hands. "Ah," he said when he saw the mug.

"It wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked quietly.

"No," he answered.

"You were in my quarters that night?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered, walking slowly toward her, seeing her shock. Stopping in front of her, he placed his hands over hers on the mug. "It's okay," he assured.

"No, it's not," she retorted, shaking her head. Thorin looked at her, confused. He took one hand off hers and cupped her jaw, lifting her face and making her look at him.

"Why?" he asked. She could not answer, it was safer that way. "You needed help and I was able to offer it," he said. "Why is it so bad for you to let anyone close? To let your guard down? Has anyone, outside of your family, ever seen the woman you keep hidden behind that tough exterior?" he continued.

Mary was only able to answer one of his questions. " I let my guard down once and my family was put in danger and my niece and I almost killed," she said.

"That won't happen here. I can promise you that!" Thorin said fiercely.

"I can't take that chance. Not again," Mary told him sadly. She then tried to turn away, but he would not let her.

"Look at me, Mary," he said. It was the first time he had said her first name to her face, and it shocked her enough that she looked up suddenly and he caught her eyes and she could not look away. "I saw her that night," he said softly, leaning closer, "The woman you keep hidden. The vulnerable, scared, kind, gentle woman. You are so use to protecting everyone else that you won't let her be seen. Maybe it's time you let someone protect you."

Thorin leaned closer and Mary realized that he intended to kiss her. She dropped the mug and pushed away from him so suddenly that her back hit the window sill.

"I can't!" she said and then darting around him, heading for the door.

"I'm not giving up. I am going to see that woman in you again. Whatever it takes. You deserve to feel safe," Thorin said just as Mary reached the door. She stopped and looked back at him for a second, then she ran out the door and down the stairs.

Arriving back at her quarters, Mary closed and locked the door, leaning back against it and sliding down to the floor. She could not go through this again! The scar on her back should be enough of a reminder to her! But apparently it wasn't, as she now found herself attracted to another powerful man that could potentially be dangerous to her and her family. A man that seemed very interested in her as well.


	9. (9) Shame and mistakes

Over the next month, Mary did what she could to avoid Thorin; sticking to her rooms when she could not sleep and staying out of the main halls. As summer progressed, he seemed busier, so he didn't come to the practice fields with the troops often. The couple of times he did come to the fields and it seemed like he was trying to make his way over to her, Mary found a way to disappear into the crowd.

On one of her free days, Mary decided to take Silver Mist out on a lead rope for some exercise and grooming, since the weather was nice. She went to the stables, grabbed her saddlebag and a lead rope and walked Silver to the meadow on the southwest side of the mountain, where she had left the pony the first time. Then, looping the lead rope over Silver's shoulders, started brushing her silvery, dappled gray coat.

It was not long until Mary was lost in her work and thoughts. In fact, she was so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear the footsteps come up behind her. Suddenly, a hand appeared over her shoulder and covered her hand that was holding the brush. Mary froze, knowing who was behind her and it was a mark of how comfortable she was getting with the people here, when the Intuition did not warn her that **_he_** was there.

"You have been avoiding me again," Thorin commented from behind her. Mary pulled her hand away, leaving the brush in his and moved away from him.

"I don't know what you mean," she said, grabbing a curry comb out of the saddlebag that she had draped over a low hanging branch of a nearby tree. She moved to Silver's other side, putting the pony between them. Thorin sighed and put the brush back in the bag.

"Don't play stupid, you know what I mean!" he snapped. Mary just kept her head down and went on working through Silver's already smooth mane. Thorin, seeing that she was using the pony as an excuse to appear busy, grabbed Silver's halter and turned her head. Then, swatting her on the rump, sent her trotting away.

"What are you doing?" Mary asked, surprised.

"I want to talk to you," Thorin said firmly.

"No," Mary answered back just as firmly, putting the comb back in the saddlebag, she grabbed it and marched off after Silver Mist.

"Wait," Thorin called after her.

"Go away!" Mary yelled moving deeper into the wood surrounding the mountain.

"You are going to talk to me whether you want to or not!" Thorin threatened.

Mary stopped, then turned suddenly to face him throwing, the saddlebag down as she did so. "What more do you want from me?!" she exclaimed.

Thorin closed the distance between them quicker than she thought possible and grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to him. "I want the truth! I want to know why you keep pushing me away and running!" he said fiercely.

Mary put her hands up to his chest and tried to push him away, but could not. "Let me go!" she growled, still trying to push him away.

"No!" he said. "Look at me."

Mary turned her head and refused to, so he cupped his hand under her jaw and gently, but firmly, made her. His eyes bored into hers, "Why do you keep running from me?" he asked again quietly.

"Please," Mary said desperately, knowing she had to get away from him, "Let me go."

"I will let you go, but first you have to tell me something," Thorin said. Mary looked at him nervously. "You tell me that you don't feel the attraction between us, that you are not drawn to me like I am to you and I will let you go," Thorin said softly.

Mary stared at him wide-eyed. She tried to say it, but, knowing it was a lie, the words would not come out.

"You tell me right now that you feel nothing for me. Then I will let you go and leave you alone. I will treat you now different than any other lady in the city," he continued, leaning closer and Mary felt her pulse skyrocket.

"You need to speak up right now because if you don't I am going to do what I have been thinking about for months," he said quietly, leaning even closer.

"I am going to kiss you if you don't say something right now," Thorin warned.

Mary tried again, but could not get the lie past her lips. Her eyes were locked on his and she felt the intensity of the attraction pulling them together, and it made her heart race even faster. Thorin smiled a little at her silence.

He then leaned in and kissed her gently, as if trying not to frighten her. When his lips touched hers, Mary felt something like a bolt of lightning go down her spine and she gasped. His hand moved from her face and cupped the back of her head. He drew back slightly and then leaned in and kissed her again, this time more passionately. His other hand let go of her arm and went to her back, pulling her closer.

Her hands were still on his chest, but her head was spinning so that she could barely think. When he pulled her even closer, red flags began going off in her mind and she came back to herself. With one hard push. Mary was away from him. They stared at each other, breathing hard. Mary lifted a hand and touched her lips, unbelieving, then shame washed over her.

"What am I doing?" she thought. She turned and ran, whistling shrilly. Silver answered almost immediately. Thankful that she had first learned to ride bare back, Mary threw herself in Silver's back.

"Mary!" Thorin called, but she just dug her heels into Silver's sides and sent her galloping off through the trees.

Mary rode until Silver was winded enough to stop of her own accord. Mary leaned forward and buried her face into Silver's mane. All she could feel was shame and humiliation for how she had just acted.

"What have I just done? I never behave that way. What has come over me?" she thought desperately. He had given her plenty of warning to leave yet she had practically thrown herself at him. Mary shook her head and, getting control of herself, looked around to see where she was. Surprised to see how far she had come, she turned Silver around and headed back; it would not do to have her parents worrying about her on top of her own actions today. When she got back to where she had left Thorin, she approached slowly and quietly, not wanting to confront him just yet.

Mary let out a sigh of relief when she saw he was no longer there and looked around for her saddlebag, but it was gone as well and she was sure she had left it here. Mary huffed out an exasperated breath. Well, if he took it just so she would chase after him to retrieve it, he was wrong. She arrived back at the stable just in time to clean up for supper, and to her surprise, found her saddlebag hung over Silver's stall door.

"He brought it back and just left it?" she thought, confused. "Why? He could have just left it there in the woods or held on to it to force me to come talk to him…" Mary walked in for dinner more confused about him than ever.

oOo

"Did you find your bag?" Thorin asked her a couple of days later on the practice fields. Mary was shooting her bow at a target a little removed from the rest of the troop, not wanting to be disturbed from her thoughts… but apparently that was too much to ask.

"Yes," she said shortly, taking aim and firing. Even though she felt like she was choking on the words, she also said, "Thank you for returning it." The arrow she had shot hit dead center.

"You're welcome. Good shot," he commented before walking away. Mary stared after him, still not able to figure him out, before she noticed Tauriel making her way over. Mary walked toward the target and began collecting her arrows.

"So," Tauriel began, "Looks like you two are getting along better."

Mary, inspecting one of the new arrows she had received from her younger brother for her birthday, said, "He was just commenting on my shooting."

Tauriel sighed. "Mary," she said drawing her away from prying ears. "I think he is really interested in you. Why don't you give him a chance?" Mary stared at her then shook her head.

"Tauriel, I say this with no disrespect, but don't try to play matchmaker. I can't. It's too much of a risk. The quicker we move past this, the better for everyone," Mary said sadly. Tauriel looked like she was about to say something when she was called away.

"Think about it, it may not be the risk your scared of," Tauriel said walking away.

Later that evening Thorin was again dining with Kili and Tauriel, as they had news for him.

"So, what's the big news?" Thorin asked Kili. Tauriel had not joined them yet, but he asked Kili to tell him anyway.

"Tauriel has told me that she is expecting out first child!" Kili said, looking as proud as any dwarf man could.

"Congratulations," Thorin said as Tauriel joined them.

"Thank you," they replied, looking very happy. As supper progressed, the talk made its way back around to practice that day.

"So, you and your lieutenant looked to be in deep conversation. What did she have to say? If I may ask…" Thorin asked.

Tauriel looked at him and shook her head. "Nothing," she said with a peculiar look in her eye.

Thorin looked at her and shook his head also, "Don't try to play matchmaker!" he reprimanded.

"Funny that is just what she said," Tauriel replied with a smile.

"Really," he said trying to sound disinterested.

"I think Mary may be interested in you Uncle, but is scared of something," Kili said. "Could it have something to do with what happened three years ago?" he asked.

Thorin got up to leave, not wanting to talk about this, "I don't know and she won't talk about it. I have already tried," he snapped, swiftly making his exit.

Kili smiled at Tauriel. "I was right," he said mischievously.

"About what?" she asked with a smile.

"This is getting interesting," Kili said and started laughing.

oOo

For the next couple of weeks, the only time Mary saw Thorin was either on the practice fields- if he had time to join them there- or if they ran into each other in the main halls. He was polite at every meeting, so it seemed like he had put what had happened in the woods out of his mind.

"Good," Mary told herself. "It's better this was, I should be happy…" But strangely she was not.

As the days passed they were all busy as orc attacks had started to rise alarmingly. The patrols around the crop fields were doubled and the guard told to be extra vigilant. Mary's troop was just returning from one such patrol when they were met by another troop coming out, led by Thorin and Dwalin.

"An orc pack had been sighted southwest of here, just beyond the borders of Mirkwood," Mary heard Thorin tell Tauriel. "With your condition, Tauriel, I want you to return to Erebor. When you get there, get the healers ready as we may have wounded. Is your troop fresh enough to join the hunt?" he asked. The troop answered in affirmative.

Tauriel left and headed back to the city with a couple of the newer recruits to ready the healers, while both of the troops rode out to hunt down the orc pack. Mary nodded to Donald, who was on Sky Fire, then took her place in the ranks next to Chase, on his black and white mare; Starlight. They rode about five miles before encountering the pack and it was larger than expected, but with the two troops they were able to meet them head on.

Entering the battle, Mary started firing arrows as fast as possible, then, off to her right, she saw Donald fighting two large orcs, get knocked down. Mary rode towards him and, timing it just right, leapt off Silver and onto one of the orcs. She took the orc's head off and impaled the second with a throwing knife in the neck, then pulled Donald back to his feet.

Seeing that Silver had gotten herself clear of the battle, Mary put her concentration into staying alive. After that, she lost count of how many orcs came at her or the amount she shot. She merely continued to fight and move through the battle, quickly picking up arrows as she started to run low.

Eventually she found herself at the top of a slight rise, with only two arrows left. Thorin was about six feet to her right. Fighting with her long blades, she killed one orc when she noticed another coming up behind Thorin. Since he was fighting another, he did not notice. Mary's stomach dropped and her heart leapt to her throat. She slammed her blades- point down- into the ground at her feet and grabbed her bow. She shot her last two arrows in rapid succession, killing the orc. Thorin killed the orc he was fighting and whipped around upon hearing the arrows impact the enemy behind him.

The Intuition suddenly sent her a warning of danger and Mary grabbed one of her blades in her right hand. She turned just in time to prevent an orc from stabbing her in the back. Her bow still in her left hand, Mary fought the orc one-handed. After several minutes, she managed to take it down when she got another sharp warning from the Intuition.

"Look out!" Thorin yelled.

Mary turned quickly, but could not avoid the orcs sword completely. The tip of the blade sliced down the back of her left upper arm. She pulled away from the sudden, sharp pain and whipped around, taking the orc's head off. Mary stumbled, almost dropping her bow.

"Get down!" Thorin yelled, pushing her down and slicing over her head, killing an orc that had come up behind her. After that the battle only lasted a few more minutes and the orcs were all slain. Mary put her one blade in her hand back in its sheath and checked her arm. It was bleeding heavily.

"Are you alright?" Thorin asked, sounding worried.

"I think so," she answered. He grabbed her other blade, sliding it into its sheath on her back and helped her to her feet. As soon as she got up, Mary felt so dizzy that she almost fell back down. Thorin grabbed her left upper arm to steady her and Mary cried out in pain.

"You're not okay. You're injured," he said, seeing the blood rise between his fingers.

"I have had worse," she snapped, trying to pull away. "I need to check on my brother," she said.

"No, you are going to get that arm tended to," Thorin said sternly, leading her a little way away from the battlefield to a large rock. "Now sit down," he ordered. Mary glared at him and looked ready to argue.

"Don't make me tell you again, Mary," he said, getting in her face. Mary, knowing she would not win this fight, sat down and seeing the healers had just arrived on the battlefield, Thorin called one over. Becky came and looked at her arm.

"This is bad," she said.

"I have had worse," Mary repeated.

"I know." Becky answered. "You are going to need stitches…Again!" she said drolly and Mary smiled slightly. "Well I can bind it here, then we can stitch it when we get you home," Becky said and as she was doing so.

Thorin, who had walked away to check on the other troops, walked back and said, "We have no casualties and the few who are wounded are ready to be taken back to the city. Now, let's get you back on that pony of yours," he turned and whistled shrilly, two notes.

Mary looked at him in surprise and, to her greater surprise, Silver Mist answered and came trotting up. Thorin noticed her surprise, but only gave her a smug little smile. Becky finished binding her arm and was then called away to help with another person.

"Alright, let's get you up," Thorin said, helping her to her feet. He then picked her up and lifted her into the saddle. Mary sat for a moment, fighting dizziness and- though not realizing it- clutching his hand, before she finally took up Silver's reins.

"Are you alright?" Thorin asked.

"Yeah," Mary answered. "Is Donald okay?" she asked looking around for her brother.

"Yes, he was not even hurt. He has already started back with some of the wounded," Thorin answered.

"Good" Mary said softly with a sigh of relief. Thorin then mounted his own pony and rode next to her all the way back. When they reached the stables, he helped her dismount in the stables.

"Thank you," Mary said blushing as she turned and found herself standing in his arms again.

"You're welcome," he replied softly, smiling and watched as she was led away by the healers.

When she got to Oin's office she was given a draught that put her to sleep and when she woke up, her arm was stitched and wrapped with a poultice. They put her arm in a sling and she was given extra herbs and told how to make the poultice, as the bandage needed to be changed twice a day.

Until her arm healed, Mary was taken off of duty and it only took a week of inactivity for her to feel like she was going mad. Finally, she could not take it anymore and decided one day to go for a walk. She needed to escape from her mother's watchful gaze for a little while.

She made her way out the stables, knowing that there was little chance of her being seen going out that way.

"Sneaking out?" asked a voice behind her. Mary stopped, sighed, and turned to see Becky standing there with a large bunch of carrots.

"Spoiling Starlight again?" Mary asked. Becky ignored Mary's joking question.

"Where do you think you are going?" she asked, coming back to what she had asked before.

"Becky, please," Mary said. "Between my mother hovering and Kaylee watching me like she expects my arm to fall off, I am going insane! I am just going for a short walk."

"You really should be resting and trying to heal," Becky reprimanded and Mary sighed, rolling her eyes. "But seeing as I obviously can't stop you, take it easy will you!" Becky said walking away. Taking a deep breath, Mary left before anyone else saw her.

A couple of hours later, Mary sat on some large stones in a secluded cove on the lake. It was time to change her bandage, so she had started a fire and warmed some water to finish mixing the poultice.

Today, she was wearing a white walking dress with short, closer fitting sleeves that ended at her elbows and had buttons that went from the cuff to the neckline, making it easier to tend to her arm.

Mary had just unbuttoned the first two buttons by the cuff when she heard footsteps. She grabbed her boot dagger- Briar as the rune said- that she had laid out beside her and turned.

"Whoa easy!" Thorin said. Standing a few feet behind her and seeing the dagger in her hand. Mary put the dagger down and sighed.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I saw the smoke and came to check it out," he said then asked. "You need any help?"

"No, I got it," she said, hoping he would leave.

"Uh huh," he said disbelievingly. "It's going to be awful hard for you to change that bandage one handed."

"I said, I got it," Mary said more forcefully.

He moved to stand next to where she was sitting, "There's no shame in asking for help," he shot back. Mary looked at him and sighed, knowing that there was no getting rid of him.

"Fine," she said, "Thank you."

He nodded, sat down behind her, and began unbuttoning her sleeve. He left one button buttoned, nearest her neckline and Mary grabbed the fabric of both the front and back to keep the scar on her back covered. He took the bandage off and swore softly under his breath at the sight of the stitches.

"It's me who should be thanking you. You were injured saving my life," he said.

Mary looked back at him and their eyes met for a moment. She looked away first and said softly, "It's something any of your guards would have done."

Thorin nodded and picked up the clean rag she had laid out and dipped it in the warm water. As gently as possible he wiped away the dry poultice and made sure the area was clean. Then, just as gently, applied fresh poultice and started to wrap her arm in a clean bandage. Seeing her sleeve was still in the way, he reached up and unbuttoned the last button. Mary tried to keep ahold of the fabric, but it was getting harder as her palm kept sweating with nervousness. Thorin pulled the knot tight in the bandage suddenly, making Mary jump, losing her grip on the back portion of the fabric.

"I'm sor…" he began to say when she jumped. Mary tried to get the back portion to her hand, but could not without losing the front and the fabric slid down revealing part of her shoulder and upper back.

"By Durin!" Thorin gasped. He reached up and pushed the fabric the rest of the way aside and stared. Mary closed her eyes and bowed her head, knowing what he was seeing. The top portion of the scar.

"If you're done…" Mary said in a shaken voice. Thorin looked at her, but she refused to look back as he re-buttoned her sleeve. She could not handle the pity she was sure she would find in his eyes at that moment. When he was finished, she hurriedly grabbed everything she had brought and stuffed them in her bag, before getting up and trying to leave. Thorin caught up to her before she went too far and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mary, wait," he said gently.

"No!" she said, "I have to go!" Thorin grabbed her right arm and spun her around to face him.

"For once, stop running and talk to me!" he exclaimed, frustrated.

"Let go!" Mary said.

"No, not until you talk to me!" he said firmly. Mary, not thinking, whipped Briar out and held it under his chin.

"I said let go!" she said, fear and anger pouring from her. Thorin let go of her arm and Mary backed away, truly scared of him for the first time. She had never seen him so angry. Terrified of what she had just done and what he would do, Mary turned and ran as fast as she could.

When she thought she was far enough away, Mary stopped and looked down at Briar still in her hand. "Why did I do that?" she asked herself, looking at the blade with its purple sheen of poison.

"Oh Durin! What have I done?" she thought, panicked. Mary put Briar back in her boot and turned back towards the mountain. She knew that, soon enough, she would have to face Thorin and the consequences of her actions, whatever they may be.


	10. (10) The Truth

"Where have you been?" her mother asked, meeting her in the stables.

"I went for a walk," Mary replied.

"It's past time to change your bandage," Mother replied, looking exasperated with her.

"It's already been changed, a friend helped," Mary said but Mother still insisted on looking at it and after approving, let her go when Mary said she was tired.

"Well go and rest… And stay out of the King's way tonight. The word is that he just returned and looks angry enough to spit nails," Mother said, walking away.

Mary cringed upon hearing this, knowing it was her fault, and headed back to her quarters. She did not rest, but paced her rooms for several hours, wondering what was going to happen. Finally, realizing it was useless to stay there, cooped up and worrying, Mary went down to supper, but did not make it, as Thorin met her in one of the back passageways.

He walked up to her and grabbed her arm, ordering her to come with him. Mary noticed he looked angrier than before- if that was possible- and tried to pull away. His hand tightened on her arm and she could not get away, he then proceeded to march her through a couple more passageways, thankfully deserted as everyone else was at supper. Finally, they reached the stairs leading to the tower room and he gave her a slight push toward them.

"Up the stairs! Now!" he ordered. Mary stopped on the first stair, and having had enough of being man-handled, she turned and faced him.

"And if I don't!?" she challenged him. He stepped up to her and got right in her face.

"Then I will carry you up there," he threatened. Mary glared at him, but knew she would lose this fight.

He turned her around and marched her up the stairs and through the door. Once inside, he closed and locked the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed against his chest.

"What do you want?!" Mary asked indignantly.

"I am tired of you running away. I want the truth about what happened three years ago," Thorin stated.

Mary looked at him, wide-eyed with fear. "Oh, no, no, no! I have already told you that dragon fire would…" she began but he interrupted

"Consider it frozen over than!" he yelled at her, stepping away from the door slightly in his anger.

"If this is about me pulling that dagger earlier…" she started, eyeing how he had moved from the door.

"I am sorry. It was stupid. I was not thinking," Mary said her heart pounding.

"No, this is about that scar I saw on your back. I know you and Kaylee were attacked and I know by whom. What I want to know is the rest of what happened. And we are not leaving here until you tell me!" Thorin stated stepping farther from the door.

"Well you're going to have a long wait!" Mary threw at him through clenched teeth and thinking he was far enough from the door, tried to dart around him and get out it… But he was too fast, catching her around the waist and pulling her against him!

"Let me go!" she yelled, kicking and fighting to get free, but since she only had use of one arm, it was impossible.

"Stop! You are going to hurt yourself!" Thorin ordered setting her away from him, but keeping himself between her and the door.

"No! NO!" she screamed at him "Let me out!" Her fear having reached a fever pitch. She had never felt so close to completely breaking down before. She could not tell him what he wanted; he could not know her complete shame!

"Why won't you tell anyone, not even your own family? Thorin asked. "Kaylee has obviously begun to heal and put it behind her," he continued. "Why can't you?"

His last question was what did it and Mary, finally, completely broke and all the fear, shame and guilt she had thought was locked away forever flooded through her.

"Because it was MY fault!" she screamed at him.

After this admission, Mary collapsed in on herself and crumpled down to the floor. She sat there and pulled her knees to her chest, put her head on her knees and began to sob.

Thorin walked over to her and heard her say, one more time quietly, "It was my fault!" He then sat down beside her, facing the opposite direction, and pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. Mary leaned against him and continued to sob uncontrollably. When her sobs began to quiet, Thorin cradled her cheek in one hand.

"You are so use to protecting everyone that you don't let anyone close. You have been carrying this burden alone for so long it's starting to eat you alive and you need to let someone help you carry it before it completely destroys you," he said, looking deep into her eyes, "Please let me help you bear it."

Mary looked at him, tears still rolling down her face, "Please," she begged, having no pride left, "Please, don't make me relive that."

She then ducked her head and continued to cry.

"Mary, please," Thorin said with compassion, "Tell me what happened."

Mary looked at him and saw there was no way around it. So she took a deep breath and, leaning away from him, pulled her knees tighter to her and staring straight ahead, she took him back three years ago.

oOo

"We lived in the far eastern part of the Iron Hills. The small city was not very welcoming to people like us, then again, it is difficult to find a place that is. But we were able to find jobs, such as there were, and settled. I worked for a local magistrate, one if the few who would hire someone of my bloodline, as the day escort or chaperone, if you will, for his two daughters, Mya and Mia. I was mainly assigned to Mya, as she was of marriageable age and was receiving gentleman callers."

"Among these callers was another magistrate's son, Don son of Den. He was loud, arrogant, pompous and self-entitled; in other words a real charmer. He did not like half-breeds, thought he was better than us, but me, in particular, he hated. Tried to order me around whenever he came to call. Didn't want me to be allowed to stand anywhere near him, let alone the same room. Told me I should have to bow when he entered the room so I would remember my lower status, like he thought he was the king himself."

"He used to try and order me to leave the room, but my orders came from my employer. Mya was not to be left alone with any gentleman other than her Father, brothers, or uncles. When I told him such, he was livid. Told me I needed to learn my place and learn to hold my tongue and to have some respect for my betters. I told him that respect was earned and not given, that he was no better than I and that he could take his attitude and shove it! This made him very angry and he looked like he wanted to strike me, but Mya ordered him to leave."

"After this, things just got worse with him. If he saw me or my family in the market, he would insinuate to the merchants that we were stealing and soon many would not sell to us for fear of him or his father. He even tried to get me fired, but my employer was a fair man and ignored him."

"Then one day he came to call on Mya. I was chaperoning her as usual. When he saw me, he told me to leave, that I had no right to be in his presence. I told him, in no uncertain terms, that that was not going to happen. Suddenly, he swung round and slapped me across the face. As I fell down, I heard Mya scream and run out of the room. When I got back up, he grabbed me by the throat and pinned me to the wall saying he was going to teach me some respect. But I was the one that taught him a lesson. I kicked him as hard as I could in the groin and when he let go and collapsed down, I elbowed him in the throat. When he was down, I pulled out one of my blades and held it on him. I told him that if he ever touched me again, he would regret it. By that time, Mya had come back with her father and brothers. Don tried to tell them that I had attacked him! But Mya had already told her father what had happened and her father threw Don out, telling him he was no longer welcome in his house. The last thing I heard him say was that I would regret this, but I was alright, just a couple of bruises."

"The next day, we heard that Don had been sent to visit an aunt in another city. The next two weeks were peaceful. My family could walk around the city again, without fear, for the first time in months. One day, my mother asked me to go to the market after work" Mary stopped. She did not want to tell Thorin this part.

"What?" he asked and Mary looked at him pleadingly. He reached out and took her hand between both of his.

"It's alright," he said. Mary nodded, knowing that now that she had started she could not stop, no matter the cost. She took another deep breath and continued.

"When I got home from work and Mom asked me to go to the market, I took time to clean up and dress nice. I put on a nice dress and slippers and left all my weapons at home… Because I knew I would see Tulan at the market. Tulan was the son of Talan, another local magistrate. For several months he had been defending me and my family from Don and his lies. He had even started acting interested and I thought that maybe he wanted to be more than friends."

"The problem was that my parents did not like him. Mother said that the intuition was telling her not to trust him and it was telling me the same thing, but I did not listen," she said, but Thorin interrupted asking, "The Intuition?"

Mary explained, "It is a gift in my family. The gift of foresight runs in the elven side of my family, but seeing as we are not full elf; it's been diluted down to the Intuition. It's sort of a sixth sense, it warns us when danger is close. That is how I knew you were hiding around the corner that first night. Occasionally, it lets us know when we are about to meet someone or find something that will become very important later."

He nodded in understanding and looked at her to continue.

Again she took a deep breath, knowing she was coming to the worst part. Mary felt his thumb caressing her knuckles, trying to offer comfort as she continued.

"I did not listen to my parents or the Intuition. Why did I not listen?" Mary asked, so full of grief and guilt she almost could not continue. But looking into his eyes she saw such strength and sympathy there that she was able to find the will to continue.

"When I was leaving for the market, Kaylee begged me to let her go and I agreed, seeing no harm in it. We got to the market and sure enough, Tulan was there. He walked with us as we shopped and then offered to escort us home. I agreed, even though I felt something was wrong, I just ignored it. I should have listened… He knew my parents did not like him, why would he offer to escort me home? Halfway home, he asked if he could show me something briefly. He said he had found some beautiful crystal formations over by the old forges and wanted to show them to me. Even though it was getting late, I agreed. But when we got close to the old forges, the Intuition gave me a warning so sharp, it took my breath away and I could not ignore it. I decided that we needed to leave and go home and I told him so. 'But the crystals are just ahead' he said. Though… the look on his face confirmed something was wrong."

"'Leaving so soon?' I heard a voice behind me say. I turned and there stood Don and four of his friends. I grabbed Kaylee and pushed her behind me and started trying to inch our way toward a passageway on our right. I asked Tulan what was going on, but he just smiled mockingly at me and walked over to Don, who said 'Good Job. The plan worked perfectly.' When they turned back to me, they noticed I was making my way to the passageway."

"Don yelled for them to stop me and that was when I turned, grabbed Kaylee's arm and yelled at her to run. In that ridiculous, frilly dress and slippers, I did not get far before they caught me. One of them grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked me back. I pushed Kaylee away and screamed at her to run. They pushed me down and proceeded to beat me. Every time I would get back to my feet I was knocked back down and if I managed to get to my knees I got kicked in the ribs. This went on for several minutes… Then I heard Kaylee scream and saw Don going after her."

"I don't know where I got the strength, but I pushed myself up off the ground and fought my way clear of them and ran around him. I turned and swung and punched him as hard as I could. When he staggered, I picked Kaylee up and tried to run. I didn't see Don draw his ax, but when he swung at me Kaylee saw it and screamed. I tried to dodge away, but injured as I was, I was not fast enough and the edge of the blade sliced into my back and I fell. As I fell, I pushed Kaylee down that passageway as hard as I could, telling her to run. I heard her crying for me for a few seconds before running off."

"I laid there, face down in the dirt and prayed they were done with me. I had never felt such pain as I was in then, in my entire life. I could feel blood soaking into my dress. Then I heard them walk up to me, laughing."

"'Well, I guess you know your place now!' Don said. Then he put his foot under me and roughly rolled me over. He put his ax blade against my throat; I could see my blood on it. "Should we kill her now?" Don asked his friends."

'"No." This was from Tulan. "Let's have some fun with her first." And when I realized what he meant, I started to struggle to rise. But two of the other men grabbed my arms and held me down. I had been beaten, my back was bleeding and now they were going to take my virtue. I continued to try and struggle, but Tulan sat on top of me, straddling my stomach and pinning my legs with his.

"'I will go first,' he said and then took out a knife and started to cut my bodice open. I prayed I would pass out or die before they could do anything more to me. Suddenly, someone tackled Tulan off of me and more men grabbed Don and his friends. I just remember curling onto my side and closing my eyes. Then I heard Kaylee's voice calling to me, begging me not to die."

"It turns out, when Kaylee and I never returned from the market, my dad and brothers got some men from our area of the city to help search for us. When they found Kaylee, she told them where I was and what was happening, as much as a child of her age could."

"The next couple of days, I was in and out of it. But every time I woke there was Kaylee, sitting at the foot of my bed or lying next to me. I know Becky and my Mother worked for a while to clean and stitch the wound. I was fortunate to have survived…"

"About a week later, I was summoned to a hearing. I could barely stand up to go to it, and yet they ordered me to appear. When I got there, they would not let my family or the magistrate I worked for in. But Don's father, Den, led the hearing. I told them what had happened, but they did not believe me. They believed Don and his friends, who said I had lured them there and then attacked them and tried to rob them. They said the word of a magistrate's son was more believable than that of a half-breed. They dismissed me, Don and his friends got off with a slap on the wrists. When I got outside the hearing, I passed out and when I woke up I was back at home."

"Several things started happening after that. First the rumors started, you have heard them so I won't repeat them. And then one by one my family lost their jobs and I was still unable to work. The stress and conditions we were forced to live in caused an infection in the wound on my back and the stitches had to be released. Once Mom and Becky were able to get the infection cleared up, it was restitched. Shortly after that we were asked to leave our house. The only explanation we got was that we were no longer welcome. After this the rumors chased us from one home after another. And… well, you know the rest," she finally finished.

Mary pulled her knees to her chest as tight as her arm, in its sling, would allow. She laid her head on her knees and let the tears fall again, crying softly. Thorin let go of her hand and pulled her into his arms again, cradling her against his chest. They sat there like that as Mary's tears quieted and she laid her head on his chest and listened to the sound of his heart beat and breathing, allowing them to calm her.

She allowed herself to lean on his strength. "Just this once," she told herself.

"Are you alright?" Thorin asked. Mary pushed herself back and climbed back to her feet, slowly.

"I will have to be," she said sadly, without looking at him. Thorin climbed to his feet as well. He then reached out a hand and cupped her cheek.

"You don't have to run from me anymore," he said kindly.

His words and tone made her look at him; in his eyes Mary saw compassion, sadness, and strangely, anger but not at her. Surprisingly, there was no pity to be found. It was the pity that she most feared. She closed her eyes and leaned against his hand, a few more tears escaping. Thorin leaned in and tenderly kissed her forehead and then leaned his forehead against hers.

Exhaustion, such as she had never felt, swept over her then leaving her shaking with it.

"You should go and rest now," Thorin said, "Thank you for telling me the truth."

Mary stared at him in shock. "Yes, I believe you," he said, interpreting her reaction.

Mary suddenly sagged down and Thorin caught her and steadied her. She had not known what a burden she had been carrying until he had said he believed her. No one, outside her family, or Becky and Chase, had believed her in three years.

"Whoa, easy!" he exclaimed.

"Mary," he said and when she looked at him, he said, "I want you to go to your quarters and rest now. We will talk more about this later."

Mary, too tired, to argue just nodded, headed to the door and left.


	11. (11) Unforeseen friendship

Mary would have been terrified to see the state Thorin was in after she left. The anger that he had felt upon hearing what had happened to her, which he had kept carefully bottled up while she was there, exploded through him.

"How dare they do that to her, or any woman! What makes them think they have the right?!" he thought furiously, pacing in his anger and not hearing the knock at the door.

So angry was he that he lashed out, grabbing the nearest thing- a small crystal sculpture of a horse on the mantle- and threw it at the wall. It shattered next to the door, just as the door opened.

"Well, someone is certainly in a good mood," came a sarcastic voice that turned out to be Kili. Standing in the doorway with him was Dwalin and Tauriel.

"What do you want?!" Thorin asked, angrily.

"We came looking for you when you did not show for supper. We also happened to pass Lieutenant Sapphire in the hall… She looked like she had just been through a rough time," said Dwalin.

Thorin said nothing to this, just kept pacing.

"You finally got her to tell you, didn't you?" asked Tauriel. "It's bad?"

Thorin looked at them. "Worse than I had imagined… But the worst part is not what happened to her, but the fact that she blames herself for it."

"But you don't see it that way?" Kili asked.

"No."

"Have you told her that?" Kili asked again.

"No, I sent her to her rooms. She needed to rest and I needed to calm down," Thorin answered.

"Oh yes, it looks like you were calming down alright," Dwalin commented, looking pointedly at the remnants of the crystal sculpture.

Thorin looked at them and decided that the next time he saw Mary, he would tell her that what has happened was not her fault. He also decided there and then that he would tell no one what Mary had revealed to him.

It was her tale to tell, not his.

oOo

Over the next couple of days, Mary waited. She knew Thorin was going to want to talk to her again, and that he would have questions she was not going to want to answer, but would have to, now that he knew everything.

"Yes," Mary thought. "He knows."

He knew her secret, he knew her shame.

Thorin met her in the stables, two days after she had told him everything. Mary looked at him nervously.

"Are you busy?" he asked.

"No, just looking for some peace and quiet away from family at the moment," she replied.

Donald had been slightly injured in an orc attack yesterday, nothing more than a knock on his hard head and a few stitches, but he was walking around acting like he was the only one in Middle Earth to ever be injured. His constant whining had annoyed Mary and chased her to the stables.

"Good, will you take a walk with me?" Thorin asked and when she nodded in agreement, led her out of the stables and towards a trail that led into the woods, away from prying ears.

"I have been thinking a lot about what you told me, and I cannot express how sorry I am that you had to go through something like that. But I believe you are wrong about something," Thorin said as they walked.

"What?" Mary replied, some sarcasm creeping into her voice.

"I've told him everything and now he's going to ridicule me," she thought. "Just great."

Thorin, ignoring the sarcasm in her voice, explained, "I do not believe any of this was your fault."

Mary stopped and stared at him, shocked. Thorin, noticing that she was no longer walking beside him, stopped and turned to look at her.

"Don't play with me. I told you everything, so you know that's not true," she said sadly. "If I had listened to my parents about Tulan or even listened to the Intuition when it was telling me something was wrong, none of this would have happened."

Thorin shook his head at her. "From what you told me, it sounds like they were planning this for a while. They would have found a way to get to you. Your only mistake was trusting someone that turned out to be manipulating you," he reassured.

Mary sighed, "Yeah, and that mistake almost cost my niece her life! No offence, but I do not expect you to understand that." Mary said turning away from him.

"No, I understand. Because _my_ mistake _cost_ my oldest nephew his life," Thorin said.

Mary turned and looked at him, seeing ten years of grief and guilt in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Thorin sighed, walked over to a fallen tree and sat down.

Mary sat next to him and waited for the explanation.

"You have heard of Dragon Sickness… it's also known as Gold Sickness?" he asked and Mary nodded.

She had heard of it. It was a sickness of the mind; an insatiable greed for gold that afflicted many a dwarf and would eventually drive them mad.

"It runs in my family. My grandfather, and later my father, lost their minds to it. When we took back Erebor from Smaug, I almost succumbed to it, and as a result almost caused a war between us, the men, and the elves. But thanks to a wizard and a certain persistent hobbit, I came out of it just in time to help fight off an attack from a large orc army. My nephew, Fili, was slain trying to protect me. If I had not taken him on this quest, if I had _listened_ to those around me, rather than letting myself fall into the same madness that destroyed my predecessors… Fili would probably still be alive. That is why all the gold is kept in the treasure rooms, out of sight, why I do not go into those rooms, and trust only Gloin and his bankers and apprentices to handle the gold. I only look over the accounts… I will not make that mistake again," Thorin finished his explanation and sat there quietly for a while.

"Boy, aren't we a pair!" Mary said without humor. "Both blaming ourselves for our pasts. You could not have helped when that sickness reared its ugly head, but you have done what you can to make sure it does not happen again."

Mary wanted to offer him comfort, but did not know how. Thorin reached out, as if knowing what she was thinking, and placed his hand over hers. They sat like that for a while, wondering at the new found peace between them.

On the return walk, Thorin turned to her and said, "I will be leaving for a trip to Esgaroth and then to Mirkwood in the morning. I will be gone around a month. I hope when I get back we can talk more."

Mary looked at him and nodded, saying, "That would be fine."

Thorin stopped them before they emerged from the woods and Mary turned to look at him, questioningly. He reached out a hand and cupped her cheek.

"I will tell you now. I am interested in you beyond friendship. But if that is all you are ready for right now. I can wait," he murmured.

Mary looked at him and felt herself blushing deep red, but he just gave her a small smile and turned and led her back to the mountain.

**oOo**

As he said he would, Thorin left early the next morning and the next month passed slower for Mary than she would have admitted to anyone. Her arm healed and the stitches were taken out, leaving a long, thin scar down the back of her arm, and she was finally able rejoined her troop.

The month and a half off had weakened her arm and thrown off her aim with her bow. Frustrated with this, Mary spent more time at the targets trying to strengthen her arm and regain her aim.

The biggest change that came over her, with having told Thorin her story, was that Mary now felt safer and like she really was at home. Mary could not figure out this new feeling and thought that maybe just letting someone else help her carry her burden had been what helped her change. She no longer felt the need to be so heavily armed and ended up giving her throwing knives and two of her boot daggers to Kaylah, so that she could have something to protect herself in the crop fields, should there be an orc attack.

One day, Mary was at the targets after practice, still trying to get her aim back, when someone walked up and placed their hand over her left hand helping her to steady her aim. Mary jumped and released the arrow prematurely and even though the arrow hit the target, it was not her usual dead center hit. Mary turned and saw Thorin standing there with a smile on his face.

"Laughing at me now, are you my Lord?" Mary snarked, not wanting to let on how happy she was to see him and feeling a little shy.

"No, just thought you could use some help," he replied, still smiling.

"Your trip went well, I hope?" Mary questioned, walking towards the target to collect her arrows.

"Trade negotiations," he said with a grimace, "Boring, but they went well."

"Good, there were some that were worried. The word is that you and the Elevenking of Mirkwood don't really see eye to eye," Mary said, turning back to him. He snorted and they started walking back toward the mountain.

"King Thranduil and I have a long history, but we are at peace for the moment, and the trade is beneficial to both our people. We have learned, I hope, to put old animosities behind us." At this point, they had been spotted and the word that the King was back spread quickly.

As soon as they entered the gates, a throng of people greeted them and Mary stepped aside, or rather was pushed away, to allow a group of noblewomen past. Mary just shook her head and decided to head for the baths anyways, thinking they could talk later.

That night, Mary, once again not able to sleep, was in the stables. Since she had decided to stay, the stable master had been talking to her about breeding Silver Mist to a particular stallion. Mary had agreed, and was looking in on Silver. Said stallion was out at the moment, having been part of Thorin's group on the trip, so the breeding had been put off until the group returned. Mary was grooming the pony when she heard a familiar step.

She smiled and turned to greet the dwarven king; "I thought you would be resting after your trip and that welcome home feast," she said.

"Well, I figured you would be here and wanted ask you a question that has been on my mind for a long time," he answered.

Mary put her brush back in the bag. "Ask away," she said with a smile, liking how light the mood seemed between them lately.

"Why can't you sleep?" he asked. The smile fell from Mary's face and she sighed and looked away.

"I use to be a really sound sleeper… But nightmares will take that from anyone, and there are nights when the slightest noise has me jumping out of bed afraid," she answered.

"I thought it was that. I have seen this in dwarves that have returned from the battlefield. The hypervigilance should fade now that you know you are safe, as for the nightmares; you can always come and talk to me about them, if that will help you sleep. I have never been a sound sleeper myself, so I understand."

"You're too busy to be bothered by the silly fears of one person," she muttered, blushing at the thought of revealing what the nightmares were about.

Thorin reached over the stall door and took her hand, then opened the door and pulled her out, leading her to a bench. Sitting down, he looked at her.

"I don't think your fears are silly, you have more cause than many to be afraid," he said. "What kept you up tonight?" he asked.

Mary sighed, tonight's nightmare had been pretty bad and she was not sure if she wanted to tell anyone. Thorin kept looking at her with a patient expression and Mary lowered her head in resignation.

"I was back in the Iron Hills and the men were holding me down, but this time there was no one that came and stopped them. When they were finished with me, they went after Kaylee, and I could do nothing about it!" she said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Thorin pulled her into his arms and said soothingly, "It's going to be alright. You will heal and the nightmares will leave eventually."

Mary just nodded and sat there leaning against him, taking the comfort he offered. As the days passed, Thorin was proved to be right. As Mary started to feel more at home and not so guarded, therefore safer, her nights spent wandering the city began to diminish. The nightmares still came however, and Mary resigned herself to living with them.


	12. (12) Kids say the darnedest things

Over the next couple of months, as spring gave way to summer, Mary and Thorin's friendship deepened. And even though she did not feel ready to take that next step beyond friendship, Mary found herself enjoying his company. Finding him knowledgeable in many subjects and, surprisingly, an avid reader. After finding out this, they spent some of their time in the library comparing books they had read or wanted to read. Word began to spread about their friendship, and Mary expected to find disapproval. But, besides a few noblewomen, most people seem to accept and even encourage their friendship.

The nights she was kept awake by nightmares became fewer and far between, and on those nights she was up, Mary found him to be true to his word. And even when there were details she found too embarrassing to tell anyone, he would quietly offer comfort and she would eventually find herself telling him everything. One morning in late summer, Mary awoke to find herself in the Tower room, confused as to how she had gotten there. Then she remembered that the night before, she had been woken up by a nightmare so bad that her fear had driven her from her rooms.

Thorin had found her in the stables, a short time later, and how he had known she was there she did not know, sitting on the floor beside Silver Mist's stall trying to calm herself. He had simply taken her by the hand, without a word, and led her up to the room. Then he had sat, with her in his arms crying, on the small couch that had been moved up there to replace the worn chairs. He had just held her as she cried and poured out her fears and then eventually fell asleep in his arms. Sitting up, she noticed that Thorin had covered her with his cloak as she slept, and seeing as she was still in her night clothes, Mary wrapped herself in it and made her way quickly back to her rooms before anyone saw her.

Later that day, Mary took all three kids out to the southwest meadow to play. As Dad was dealing with a late summer cold and Donald and Kaylah were working. Having grabbed a picnic lunch from the kitchens, her bow and arrows from the guard room, just in case, and leading Silver Mist on halter and rope, they set out. Mary had already explained to the kids that Silver could not be ridden, as she had been bred, to Thorin's bay stallion ironically, and was now with foal. They spent the day grooming Silver, fishing in the small streams around the mountain, and playing hide and seek in the woods. They were in the middle of an athletic game of tag, when Mary heard movement in the bushes behind her. Mary whipped around, notching an arrow to her bow as she did so.

"Don't shoot!" said Kili, with a smile on his face and Mary immediately lowered her bow.

Standing there with him were Tauriel and Thorin.

"Well you all look like you are having fun!" Tauriel said.

By now she was showing noticeably and would soon be cutting back on her responsibilities with the guard. At least until the child was born.

"We are!" Davon said excitedly, "Want to join us?" he asked.

Mary looked at Davon, stunned, "Davon that's really nice of you but I think King Thorin, Kili and Tauriel have other things to do, rather than be running around in the woods all day." She said quickly.

"No… we would love to join you, wouldn't we uncle?" Kili asked, looking at her innocently.

Thorin, who had been watching Mary subtly, said, " Yes, we would love to. Thank you."

Mary blushed and started feeling a little self-conscious knowing that her dress was, by now, covered with sweat, mud, grass and horse hair. Not the best for entertaining noblemen.

Seeing the blush Thorin smiled a little to himself and Mary, noticing he was watching her, turned and said, "We were just about to sit to lunch in the meadow. Let us get cleaned up a little and we will meet you there."

And then hustled the kids off to the stream where they had been fishing a little earlier.

Using a clean rag, that she had brought with her for this reason, and a little of the cold stream water, she got herself and the kids as clean as possible then headed toward the meadow.

"Aunt Mary, do you like King Thorin" Kaylee asked.

"Yes, he is my friend." Mary answered

"Are you going to marry him?" Asked Aaron.

Mary looked at Aaron, a little surprised and could feel her face heating.

"Aaron, just because two people like each other does not mean they get married." Mary tried to say as calmly as possible as they left the stream.

"I think you should." Aaron said and with that they reached the meadow and could see that the others had laid out a large blanket and had the food that Mary had brought laid out, with some food they had obviously brought.

They had all just sat down and Mary was taking a drink out of her water flask when Aaron spoke up and said "Aunt Mary likes you King Thorin. Are you going to marry her?"

Mary started choking on the water upon hearing this.

"Aaron!" She said after clearing the water from her throat.

Kili erupted in gales of laughter and fell over, while Tauriel, obviously laughing, hid her face in her hands. Mary then heard Thorin chuckling and looked at him wide-eyed, blushing dark red and embarrassed. "Who wants lunch?" Mary said in an unnaturally high pitched voice and proceeded to fill each of the kid's hands with food so that they were from then on too occupied to ask farther questions.

* * *

"Yesterday was enjoyable." Tauriel said as they walked along the wall, inspecting the ranks during their shift.

"Your youngest nephew," she said starting to laugh again, "He is definitely precocious!"

She then continued to laugh for a few minutes.

"I am so happy you found it funny." Mary said sarcastically. "I found it downright embarrassing! I am surrounded by matchmakers!"

Tauriel continued to laugh and Mary shook her head.

"So," she changed the subject, "Have you and Kili come up with any names yet?"

Tauriel looked at her and nodded."Kili is hoping for a boy. He wants to name him Fili. That is what I am hoping for too. Maybe it will heal whatever hurt is left from 10 years ago."

Mary nodded, she could understand the need for healing.

"How does Thorin feel about it?" she asked.

"He seemed happy about it. But with this only time will tell." Tauriel said and Mary nodded again and they completed their rounds.

* * *

With summer harvest and preparing the fields for the coming winter and the now frequent orc attacks, Mary did not get to see much of Thorin for the next month and with summer giving away to autumn, she could hardly believe that they had been living in Erebor for a year and a half. This was the longest they had lived anywhere and Mary hoped that this would stay their home forever. One day Mary was on a scout patrol along the northern side of the mountain when she came upon a large cliff that went down to a decent sized spring. Mary skirted the cliff looking for a way down when she notice movement in the water. Pulling out her bow and notching an arrow, Mary hid behind a tree with some bushes at its base and pushed the hood of her cloak back so she could see better and peered out to see who or what was disturbing the spring. Suddenly a figure came swimming into view and it was Thorin! Mary let out a squeak and dove back behind the bushes.

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" she thought. "If he catches me up here, it will be the second time in a month I have been embarrassed in front of this man!"

She quickly and quietly put her bow and arrow back in her quiver and tried to quietly move away when her foot slipped sending rocks and dirt cascading down the cliff and into the spring.

"Who's up there?" she heard Thorin call and froze.

There was no way she was letting him know she was here. Then suddenly there was a loud thud of an arrow hitting the tree next to her head!

"Come out or next time I won't miss!" She heard him say and in a panic tried to run, not noticing that her braided hair had become entangled in the bush behind which she was hiding.

She looked back and saw him starting around the spring and coming up the cliff headed for her and gave her hair a hard yank and freed it. She then ran and climbed a tree and jumped to another and was far away by time he reached the bushes and tree she was hiding behind, not knowing that she had left something behind. Coming to the tree where his arrow was, he looked around. He was sure that for a second he had saw someone up here. Then turning to grab his arrow he saw it. In the bushes was a thin piece of leather, the type women used to tie their hair back with, gray in color and with beads made of silver at the ends, tied in a knot. And caught in the knot was several strands of dark red hair. Thorin smiled as he picked it up and put it in his pocket, sure of who had come upon him and why they had not revealed themselves.

Mary made it back to the mountain when she realized that her hair tie was missing. Praying that he did not find it, Mary waited two days before going back to look for it. She came to the spring and walked quietly, in case he was here again. Coming to the tree, she looked desperately, but could not find it!

"Please Durin, don't let him have found it!" she prayed and continued to look in vain.

"Looking for something?" Came a voice behind her.

Mary closed her eyes and sighed, cringing.

"Oh no." she thought.

Turning and there was Thorin standing behind her.

"Just looking for tracks, I thought I saw something head this way." She lied, hoping her believed her.

He looked at her and smiled and Mary knew he did not believe her.

"You're lying to me." He said, "And I think I know why."

He then held out the gray leather strip with the silver beads and Mary closed her eyes and sighed again.

"Lose something?" he asked.

"Yes." She admitted, now completely embarrassed.

"Now why would you be up here a couple of days ago, while I was swimming down below? " He asked.

"It was an accident, I was scouting and happened on this place and saw movement and wanted to make sure it was not another orc pack. When I saw it was you I panicked, ok." She said, blushing really red.

Thorin started laughing and Mary stared at him.

"Well next time make yourself known and we can be saved all this trouble." He said and Mary sputtered.

"You were half naked, there was no way I was…" Mary stopped when she saw he was laughing again and glared at him. "Can I have my hair tie back now?" She asked, not too sure if she was angry or wanted to laugh with him.

He reached out to hand it to her and when she went to take it he held on to her hand for a moment while looking into her eyes. Mary could feel the attraction between them stronger than ever.

Mary, still not sure if she was ready yet, said very softly, " I think I should go."

Thorin nodded and watched her leave, thinking all the while that he liked the way things were progressing. He walked back to the mountain with a smile that would not go away for the rest on the afternoon.

* * *

Autumn progressed and with Tauriel and Kili's child due sometime after Durin's Day, Mary was busier than ever as Tauriel was teaching her how to take responsibility for parts of the troop. She was splitting up the responsibilities between the four lieutenants in the troop and they would take care of things until such time she could return or a new captain was appointed.

Even though it was still over 2 months away, people were already talking about this year's celebration and making plans. Mary had plans for a new dress this year and had already been measured and paid for it. It should be done in time, but she was nervous about the dancing. As she had not practiced in months and did not know how to ask Thorin if he would mind helping refresh her memory.

Mary was grumbling about this one day in the library when he came up behind her and asked, "What about Durin's Day?"

Mary jumped and blushed at being caught talking to herself. "Well I…" she started and stopped, not knowing how to voice her thoughts.

"Not nervous about the dancing again are you?" He asked.

Mary ducked her head and nodded.

"We could go over it again if you like." He offered.

"Well I did not know if you were busy and I do not want to take up you time if you are." She said.

"Well I am doing something right now, but if you would like to meet in the Tower room in say 2 days, I could be free." He said and Mary agreed, relieved that he had come up with a solution.

* * *

Two days later, Mary met Thorin in the Tower room and they began the dancing lesson again. She was amazed at how little she had forgotten, but, to her surprise, did not want to end to lessons. So they started meeting every 2 days again, as their schedule allowed, and every time they danced Mary could fell herself becoming more and more attracted to this man who had helped her lower her guard and tear down the walls she had built up. One day, as they were dancing, Mary noticed that they were doing little but swaying back and forth and looked at him, seeing something was on his mind.

"Thorin?" She asked.

"Mary, I have to say over the last several month I have come to treasure your friendship, but as I told you I am interested in more." He said and Mary felt like she was holding her breath waiting for his next words.

"I would like to think that we have grown close and that you are ready for this next step. I would like to ask to come and call. I want to court you and show you how a gentleman is supposed to treat a lady. If you will let me. Will you let me show you?" he asked finally and Mary knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was ready and that she could trust him with everything, including her heart.

"Yes." She said and he let out a sigh.

He then laid his forehead against hers and smiled. He then placed his hand softly on her cheek and leaned down and, for the first time in months, gently kissed her. The kiss only lasted for a minute, but they stayed standing, foreheads touching, like that for a long while.


	13. (13) Unforeseen Love

Courting. She and Thorin were courting. Mary could not believe it and if someone had told her a year ago that the King Under the Mountain would be asking her to court, she would have laughed in their face and thought them crazy! But it was true and the very thought of it scared her but at the same time made her feel so happy she swore her feet were not touching the ground most of the time! A month later, on one of her free days, Mary was walking in the southwest meadow when she was joined by Becky and Tauriel.

Tauriel, who was now taking leave from the guard until after the child was born, noticed Mary's joyous mood and asked, "Well, what's made you so happy?"

Becky started laughing and said teasingly "Thorin asked her to court!"

Mary blushed at her words and smiled shyly.

"Mary, really?!" Tauriel asked.

"Yes, I thought he would have told you." Mary said quietly.

Thorin had left on a trip to see Balin in Moria and to attend to some business there.

"When did he ask?" Tauriel asked, obviously excited.

"The night before he left." Mary answered.

"Oh! Everyone is going to be so excited and happy. We have been saying for a long time that Thorin needed to take a wife!" Tauriel said.

Mary blushed again and stammered, " W-we are not even thinking about that! At least not yet! He just asked me to court. It may not even lead to that!"

Becky started laughing again and said, "Please! From what you have told me, from him purposefully challenging you pride to get you to let him teach you to dance to his wanting to tend to you when you were injured, this man has been trying to get your attention for the better part of a year now."

Tauriel picked up where Becky left off, "And from my experience," she said, " No dwarf man goes through that much trouble to get a woman's attention, unless he has more than courtship on his mind."

Mary looked at them and wished she felt as sure as they sounded.

"I am worried that we will find that we are all wrong for each other. Practically all we have done since I arrived here is fight and argue." She said.

"Well Thorin is a hot tempered man, he needs a woman who is not scared to stand up to him and put her foot down at times. But the last several months your relationship has changed, I can't even remember the last time I saw you two mad at each other." Tauriel said and Becky nodded in agreement.

They were about to continue the conversation when horns started sounding from the mountain.

"Their back!" Tauriel said, obviously excited.

Kili had went with Thorin this time and Tauriel had been missing him deeply with the birth of their child so close. All three women turned and walked quickly back and arrived in the entry way just as Thorin's company was arriving. Mary hung back in the shadows, watching the other women excitedly greet the men. She was not sure if she should be there or if such a display would embarrass Thorin. She was just as excited to see him as Tauriel was to see Kili, but did not know how to express that to him. So she waited and then saw him step away from the rest of the company, obviously looking around for her and stepped into the light at the very edge of the crowd. Thorin saw her and walked over, taking her hand between his, he pressed a light kiss to the back of her hand and smiled. Mary blushed and smiled shyly back at him and then noticed everyone was watching them. She ducked her head and Thorin started to laugh slightly.

"Well, we could not keep this secret for long." He said.

"I know. It's just going to take some getting used to." She answered.

Thorin smiled at her, then turned to the crowd and said "As you have probably just guessed Mary Sapphire and I are now courting."

There went up a loud cheer from the crowd and Mary could not help but smile. But as she and Thorin walked away from the entry way to their separate rooms to clean up for lunch, Mary noticed a few angry faces. They belonged to Ma'z and her friends. She had not seen Ma'z in a long time, as she had married and left the guard shortly after last Durin's Day. Mary so hoped that there would be no trouble from them as, she could see this in their faces, they still had not accepted her and did not like the idea of her and Thorin's courtship.

* * *

Later that evening, after supper, Mary received a note from Thorin asking her to meet him in the tower room. Mary excitedly dressed in one of her nicer dresses and put some nice slippers on. Still getting use to the idea of not carrying a single weapon on her, Mary stared at her 2 remaining boot daggers.

"No! You are leaving them here. You don't need them!" She told herself and left the room.

Mary arrived at the Tower room and knocked.

"Enter." She heard Thorin say on the other side of the door.

When she entered, Thorin walked over and greeted her with a light kiss on the forehead.

He then looked at her and said, "You look beautiful."

Mary blushed and said, "I have a reason to now."

Thorin smiled at her and led her over to the couch were they sat and he told her about his trip. The mines at Moria were starting to produce well and the Mithril that had been mined was ready to be forged and traded.

"I am glad things are going well, I know that Moria was once a great kingdom and maybe it can be again." Mary said.

She looked at Thorin and noticed how tired he looked.

"You need to rest, you look very tired." She said.

"Do you want me to go?" She asked.

"No, we have not seen each other for a month. I would like you to stay for a while. I would like it if you could read to me." He asked.

Mary nodded and picked up a book of legends and folklore of the different people of Middle Earth that she had been reading while he was gone and began reading. But it was not long before she heard his deep breathing and looked over to see him with his head leaned back, sound asleep. Mary smiled and quietly got up and laid him down and covered him with his cloak. She then stoked the fire and watched him sleep for a moment. Then gently kissed his cheek and left him to his slumber.

* * *

The next day, Mary was out with her troop at the practice fields. It was her turn to oversee exercises for the day. It was another challenge day and things were going well. She was just dismissing the troop and reminding them that they had late shift tonight, when she looked up and saw Thorin standing on the edge of the field. As the troop left, Mary walked over to him.

"You are looking better rested then last night." She said.

Thorin smiled at her and took her hand and they began to walk back together.

" I wanted to ask you something last night, but I guess I was more tired than I thought." He said.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Will you allow me to escort you to the Durin's Day celebration this year?" he asked, actually sounding nervous.

"Trying to keep me from hiding this year?" She teased.

"I would love to go with you." She answered him with a smile.

Upon arriving back, Mary went to see the dress maker to get her finished dress and was very pleased to see the finished result. It was a rich sapphire blue with full, sheer sleeves, of the same color, that fell to just below her hips. The trim around the neckline and hem was silver and a belt of worked silver went around the hips. It had taken some saving to afford the dress and belt, but she had wanted to look her best for this year's celebration.

On the first day of the week-long celebration, Mary nervously prepared herself. Knowing this would be her first public outing with Thorin, she wanted to look her best and not give anyone a reason to have anything bad to say.

"Mary stop fidgeting!" he mother said as she was fixing her hair.

She had braided part of her hair and was now encircling the back of her head with the braid and then left the rest down.

"There! You look beautiful." Mom said.

"I am so nervous. When it is just two of us, I am fine, but everyone is going to be there and now I am nervous and scared." Mary said.

Mom embraced her and said, "You will be fine. Every girl is nervous before her first ball, and you deserve to be happy. Remember that."

Just then there was a knock on her door and Dad answered it. There was Thorin waiting outside.

"Come on everyone, let's give them a little privacy." Dad said ushering everyone out.

Thorin stood staring at her for a moment.

"You look very handsome." Mary ventured, sounding as nervous as she felt.

He was dressed in all blue, similar in color to what he was wearing the first time she had seen him. His tunic was studded with small gems and had Mithril thread running through it. He walked over to her and placed his hand on her cheek and brought her eyes to his.

"You look beautiful." He stated simply and Mary blushed.

"I have something I would like to give you." He said and presented her with a single red rose in full bloom.

"The elves are really good at making flowers bloom all times of the year." He explained when she looked at him surprised.

"Thank you, but you did not have to. Roses are starting to become theme with us." She said smiling, thinking of the mug and the clasp on her cloak, having only recently found out the that Thorin was the one who had made and given it to her.

Thorin smiled back and offered her his arm.

"Shall we go down?" He asked.

Mary took his arm and he led them down to the great hall. What followed was the most magical night of her life. She danced and talked and then danced some more. Finally the Kings waltz was announced and Thorin led her onto the floor. During that dance it was like there was no one else there, just the two of them and Mary was sad when it ended. Thorin escorted her back to her rooms and, being the gentleman he was, bid her goodnight with a chaste goodnight kiss. Mary entered her room and laid down on her bed. She could not believe this night or the changes over the last year. She kept replaying the Kings Waltz in her head and wondered if it was possible to fall in love after only courting for 2 months.

* * *

Tauriel and Kili's child arrived just 2 days after Dale and Esgaroth celebrated Man's new year. Mary heard that Tauriel had been labor for a couple of hours, when she came off early shift and, not even bothering to stow her weapons or clean up, she rushed to their quarters. In the sitting room, off of their bedroom, she found Kili and Thorin wearing the stone floor out pacing. Tauriel cried out then and Kili jumped toward the door. Not hearing a baby cry, he began pacing again. Mary could not help but laugh at the sight.

"Just go in there and be with her." She said.

"The birthing room is no place for men." Kili said.

"Oh Please! She is probably wanting you there with her and you are driving yourself crazy, just go!" Mary said with a roll of her eyes.

Kili looked at her and did not argue anymore and went in. Thorin, on the other hand, just kept pacing. Mary laughed again and grabbing his hand, made him sit down.

"Honestly! You would think it was your child being born!" She said with a smile.

Thorin looked at her for a moment, with a small smile and a particular look in his eye, and then realizing what she had said, Mary blushed deep red and did not want to know what he had been thinking just then. Several minutes later, baby's cry could be heard. Kili came out a minute later with a big smile on his face.

"A boy!" he nearly shouted in joy.

Thorin got up and they embraced.

"Congratulations!" He said.

"Thank you Uncle. You know what we want to name him. But if it not right with you, we will find another name." Kili said, looking anxious now.

"No, your brother would be honored to know his nephew would be carrying his name." Thorin said, placing a hand on Kili's shoulder.

Over the next month, little Fili grew fast. He had his mother's red hair and his father's brown eyes. Looking at him now the only thing that gave away his elven heritage was his small, pointy ears. He was the apple of his mother's eye and his father was strutting around like a proud peacock.

* * *

As mid-February approached, Mary realized that her birthday was approaching and that she had never told Thorin. But she made the decision not to tell him as he was very busy with reports from Moria about rising orc attacks and Mary did not want to bother him with something so trivial. The morning of her birthday, she did not see Thorin. So she spent most of the day with her family, as they had a simple celebration planned. And though she missed having him here on this day, she understood that, being King, Thorin was going to be busy and at times would miss stuff like this. And she realized that in their relationship, this was something she would have to live with and understand.

Later that evening, Mary received a note from Thorin asking her to meet in the Tower, so she grabbed the book she had been reading and headed there. It had become their routine on cold nights like tonight, when they could not go for walks out of doors, that they would sit before the fire in the Tower room and read to each other. Mary reached the Tower and knocked. Not giving his usually call, Thorin instead opened the door and stood in the door way.

"What's going on?" Mary asked, sensing something was up.

"Just close your eyes." He said with a smile.

Mary looked at him, "Why?" she asked slowly.

He rolled his eyes at her, "Just do it!" he said.

Mary sighed playfully and closed her eyes.

"No peeking!" He warned.

"I'm not!" She said laughing.

Thorin then took her hands and led her into the room, then closing the door told her to open her eyes. Mary opened her eyes and gasped. The room was lit with dozens of candles and there was a vase with a single rose on the table. There was a dinner laid out and Thorin walked over and held out her chair for her.

After they had both sat down he said, "I heard someone had a birthday today."

Mary smiled at him, "Yes. Today is my birthday." She said.

Thorin took her hand and then asked "Why did you not tell me?"

"I did not want to bother you. You were very busy with more important things." Mary said.

Thorin began to stroke her knuckles with his thumb and smiled.

"You are never a bother to me." He said.

They ate dinner and talked about their day. He had indeed been busy and Mary felt honored that she was the one he could tell his concerns to and tried to be a good listener. After they had eaten he got up and walked around her chair.

He held out his hand and asked, "May I dance with the birthday girl?"

Mary smiled and placed her hand in his and they danced for several minutes. She had never felt so happy and new that she needed to tell him her feelings.

She could not hold them in any longer, so she looked up at him and said, "I love you, Thorin."

They stopped dancing and she looked at him nervously. He closed his eyes and sighed, placing his forehead against hers.

"I only dreamed of hearing you say those words." He said.

Then bringing an hand up to cup her cheek, he looked in her eyes and said, "I love you, Mary."

Mary smiled and could feel a tear roll down her cheek. Thorin leaned in and kissed her passionately. Then they held each other a while longer before they said goodnight and Thorin walked her back to her rooms.


	14. (14) The Injury

Mary spent most of the time now walking around with a happy smile on her face.

"Thorin loves me! I can't believe it!" She kept thinking to herself over and over.

She kept wanting pinch herself to make sure she had not slipped into a dream. This was so new and precious, that at times she could not believe it was happening. Silver Mist gave birth to a colt a month and a half after Fili was born. At first no one could see him in the dim stables, as he was a dappled gray like his dam. But whereas Silver Mist was a silvery dappled gray, he was a dark dappled gray. Thorin and Mary were standing outside the stall, after the foal had been spotted.

Looking at Mary, Thorin said "Well, I guess now I have found two phantoms."

Mary smiled and blushed at the reminder of how she had referred to herself that morning in the the colt's name became simply Phantom. As the next couple of months passed and winter turned to spring, Mary watched as Fili grew from an infant to a curious baby that was more interested in the world around him. Watching him grow, Mary thoughts turned to having a family of her own. This was something that she had never thought would be possible before, but now she was considering it. She and Thorin had declared their love and she hoped that soon they would maybe talk about their the moment there was still a lot that they were getting to know about each other and each discovery was something they both were taking it one day at a time and saw no reason to rush, they had all the time in the world, she thought.

One day, in early spring, Mary saw that their time could be cut short very suddenly. She was supervising early shift with her troop and had saw Thorin ride out early, going to hunt down what was supposed to be a small orc pack. About 4 hours after he left, the intuition kept telling her something was very wrong. The feeling would not let her alone and soon she found out why.

While in the guard room, with the door open going over her weapons, she heard footsteps come up the outer stairs and a voice call, "Where's Lieutenant Sapphire?"

Mary came out of the guard room and faced a young dwarf maiden.

"I'm right here. What's wrong?" She asked.

"You need to come with me. The King has been injured and Lady Tauriel sent me to get you!" the young maiden said.

Mary staggered back, and stared at the maiden in shock.

"Someone go get Lieutenant Flintlock!" one of the troops sergeants yelled.

He then turned to Mary and said, "I can watch things until the Lieutenant gets here, you need to go."

Mary nodded and took off running, still carrying all her weapons and not even waiting for the young maiden. She ran down the stair, out distancing the young dwarf, and kept running until she reached the royal apartments. As she rounded the corner, Mary saw Tauriel, with Fili in her arms, waiting on her outside of the sitting room off of Thorin's bedchamber.

Mary, out of breath, called "What happened? Tell me he's alright!"

She stopped in front of Tauriel and looked at her pleadingly.

"They brought him back about 20 minutes ago. The pack was larger than expected. He was shot in the leg with an arrow and there is a long slash across his ribs. He has lost a lot of blood. Oin is in with him now." Tauriel explained.

She then led Mary into the sitting room and made her sit down.

"He's going to be alright?" she asked again.

"We hope so." Said Dwalin who was also waiting in the room.

Kili, Bofur and Gloin were there waiting as well. As they waited for Oin to come out, Mary found that she could not sit and wound up pacing the room. She did not realize she was crying until Bofur, who she passed on another route around the room, offered her a handkerchief.

"Thank you." She said and proceeded to try to staunch the tears rolling down her face.

After about an hour, the door opened and Oin stepped out. Everyone gathered around him.

"Is he all right?" Mary said.

"The bleeding has stopped and we have stitched both wounds, it's up to him now." Oin said.

"Can I go in and see him?" She asked.

Oin nodded and said, "He is sleeping, but be quiet and do not let him get up if he wakes."

With that he left the room. They all entered the room and stood by his bedside. It broke Mary's heart to see him lying there so still and pale. Mary sat in the chair by his bed and took his hand.

"Don't you dare die, Thorin Oakenshield! I won't let you!" She thought as she cradled his hand in her lap.

They all stood there watching and waiting to see if he would wake, but after a couple of hours it was obvious that he was going to sleep on for the time being.

"Come on, let's let him rest and we need to rest as well." Gloin said.

Everyone but Mary nodded and started to leave.

"Come on Mary, you need to rest as well." Tauriel said noticing that she had not moved.

"No, I am going to stay in case he wakes." she replied. "

Would you return my weapons to my rooms for me please?" Mary asked.

Tauriel nodded, as Kili had taken Fili to lay him down for a nap. Mary stood up and handed her weapons to Tauriel and then sat back down and took Thorin's had again.

"Thank you Tauriel." Mary said as the elf was leaving the room.

Tauriel nodded and after she had left Mary let herself cry again.

* * *

For the next two days Mary left Thorin's apartments only to clean up and change clothing. Oin was concerned that she was not eating, but she told him that people were bringing her food there, though it was true that she was not eating much of it given her concern was so great for Thorin who had not woken up yet. Finally, late on the second night, Mary woke up to the feeling of a hand caressing her hair. She realized that she had leaned forward in the chair and laid her head on the edge of the bed next to Thorin's waist. She picked her head up and looked to find Thorin staring at her.

"Your awake!" she said, relieved, "How long have you been awake?"

"Just about 10 minutes." He said weakly, "You were sleeping so soundly and I did not want to wake you."

He tried to move but grimaced in pain.

"How long have I been asleep?" He asked.

"Two days." Mary answered.

"Was anyone else hurt?" he asked again.

"Not that I know of." She answered.

Mary lifted a hand and laid it on his cheek.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to see you awake." She said with tears in her eyes.

Thorin put his hand over hers and turned his head and kissed her palm. When he tried to move again he groaned this time in obvious pain

"I'm sorry, here I am crying and carrying on and you are in pain." Mary said chastising herself.

" Do you want me to get Oin?" She asked, "He wanted to be notified when you woke."

Thorin nodded and Mary ran to wake Oin.

* * *

It took Thorin a month to heal from his wounds. For the first week, the most he could do was sit up and spent the most of the time asleep. Oin said it was a good sign that he could sleep without medication, that his body was healing. After the second week confined to bed, Thorin started to get restless and irritable. One day, Mary came in after her shift to find him in a very foul mood.

She had just entered his sitting room when she heard him bellow "GET OUT!" and Kili came out looking angry and shaking his head.

"I would not go in there if I were you, Mary. He is not in the best of moods." Kili told her.

"He has not been in a good mood for a couple of days now. But I can handle him, don't worry." Mary said and patted his arm as she passed him.

Mary then knocked on Thorin's bedroom door and open it.

"I SAID GET OUT!" she heard him bellow once more as she entered the room.

Then a bowl, which he had obviously thrown, smashed against the wall next to the door. Mary looked at the remnants of the bowl, then looked at him with raised eye brows.

"Well, someone's in a **_great_** mood!" she said sarcastically.

Thorin glared at her and said nothing.

Mary walked farther into the room and asked "So, what has brought on this little temper tantrum?"

Thorin looked at her, obviously insulted.

"Do not talk to me as if I were a child!" he said angrily.

"Well, if you were not acting like one…" she shot back.

"I am not acting like a child! I am just sick of being in this bed! I see no reason I cannot get up! I feel fine!" he yelled at her.

Not intimidated at all, Mary stepped toward him, her own temper rising.

"There is plenty of reason! You took an arrow to the leg, thank Durin and the Valar it was not poisoned, You have thirty stitches across your ribs and abdomen, lost a lot of blood and were unconscious for two days!" Mary replied angrily.

"You are just getting your strength back. I don't think it would be good for you to be trying to get up until you are told you can!" She continued to shout at him.

"You are not a healer, so how would you know what's best for me or not!" he said even angrier than before.

Not wanting to show how much that last remark hurt, Mary let her temper take over. " No, I am not a healer and it's a good thing for you that I am not! Because I would whip up a draught, right now, that would knock your arse out and force it down your stubborn throat! But right now I think I would settle for Dwalin's war hammer, though I don't think he would thank me for damaging it on your hard head!" She growled back.

"Now you have two choices," she threatened, pointing her finger at him, "You can either stay in that bed or I will have you tied to it! And believe me there are people outside who would gladly help me!"

They glared at each other until Thorin, who could see that Mary was serious about her threat, huffed and leaned back against his pillows. Mary then nodded and then left the room slamming the door behind her.

Two weeks later, Oin let Thorin up and Erebor breathed a sigh of relief. Mary had been by his side every day, even after their fight. She still did not let him know how much he had hurt her by what he had said, determined to put it behind her. Mary was in the stables on her free day, a week after Thorin had been allowed up, checking in on Silver Mist and Phantom. She was thinking about taking Silver out for a ride and was leaning on the stall door when a large hand covered hers, she turned and smiled at Thorin.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Good. Oin said the stitches could come out in a week or so." He answered.

"Will you take a walk with me?" He asked.

Mary nodded and took his arm. They made their way to the southwest meadow and began walking in the woods surrounding it.

"I have been wanting to apologize for what I said and how I acted. You were looking out for what was best for me and I was being stubborn and unreasonable." He said as they walked.

Mary stopped under a tree and looked at him.

"It was my fault too. You were right, I was talking to you like a child and I should not have. We were both wrong so how about we call it square and move on." She said.

Thorin smiled and pulled her into an embrace.

"What did I do to deserve a woman like you?" he asked tenderly.

Mary smiled at him, "I don't know, something horrible most likely."

He laughed and they turned to head back, as Oin would not want him exerting himself, when Mary noticed the tree they were standing under and started to laugh.

"What's so funny." He asked.

Mary pointed to the tree, which had clear arrow marks on it.

"I do have a question though." She said smiling.

He raised his eye brows questioningly.

"How long were you stuck on this tree?" she asked on a laugh and he groaned at the memory.


	15. (15) Once again a Phantom in the mists

As Thorin's strength returned, Mary started hearing the oddest rumors about the way he was injured. Some said it was not an orc arrow that had hit him, others said that the shot come not from the pack but from the trees surrounding the battle. Mary, determined to find out the truth, went in search of the arrow sure that Oin had it somewhere. She entered his office while he was out and, fortunately there were no other healers around, found the arrow sitting on his desk. Mary, hating the fact that she was again stealing, secreted the arrow in her quiver and headed back to her rooms to examine it.

When she was locked in her rooms, Mary took the arrow out and, sure enough, it was not an arrow she had ever known an orc to use. It was short and thin, but well made, made of a silvery wood with black feathers. I was too short to be an elfish arrow, if it was someone's intent to start trouble between Erebor and Mirkwood. But she was sure she had not seen anyone here use arrows similar to this. And who ever shot it had pretty bad aim since, from what she had heard, Thorin had been on the edge of the battle field and the arrow had only hit him in the thigh. Or maybe that was how they wanted it to look, in which case was even more worrying. Was someone trying to kill Thorin or just stir up trouble?

Mary kept a sharp watch on Thorin for the next couple of weeks. She tried to relax while they were together, not wanting him to know she was worried for him. Then one day, upon returning from the stables, she found a note slipped under her door which read:

**The King's injury was a warning. We will not let**

**you pollute the line of Durin! End it now and leave Erebor**!

Mary stared at the note, shocked. Who would be threatening her and Thorin, everyone seemed so happy and supportive of their courtship. The threat shook Mary up but also made her mad. No one threatened her and those she loved! No one! Mary started spending more time training, not wanting to let herself slip just in case she needed to be able to defend her family again, and the included Thorin! She was at the targets shooting late one day, when Thorin came up behind her.

"You have been training awful hard lately, any particular reason?" He asked wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek.

Letting her bow fall to the ground, Mary turned in his arms and returned his embrace.

"Just practicing in case a certain King decides to challenge me again, maybe I could win this time." She said with a smile, though she knew this was very unlikely since he had challenged her twice since the first time and she had yet to beat him.

He smiled back and said, "You would have to practice a whole lot more, my dear."

Mary tried to look insulted, not easy when the man you love was holding you and looking at you so lovingly.

"Maybe one day." She said back.

Thorin laughed then lowered his head and kissed her.

Mary could not think for a while and when he finally drew back it took a moment for her to put a coherent thought together.

"That's not fair, you know." she shad breathlessly.

Thorin chuckled and laid his forehead against hers and sighed.

"I am leaving in the morning for the Blue Mountains. I should be back before Durin's Day." Thorin said.

It was mid-summer, Mary thought. She was not relishing the idea of spending the rest of the summer and most of the autumn without him, but nodded knowing it was inevitable. They turned and started to walk back together.

"Who's going with you?" She asked, trying to sound supportive and not sad.

"Dwalin, Bofur, and Nori." He replied.

"Any particular reason, this time?" She asked.

"Just some business." He hedged and Mary thought he was avoiding the question for some reason, but decided to let it be not wanting to spoil their last few hours together.

* * *

As he said he would, Thorin left the next morning. Mary had yet to tell him about the threat, not wanting to worry him unnecessarily. Thorin held her for a while before leaving.

"Be careful." Mary said.

"Dwalin will be with me, how much trouble could I get in?" He asked, trying to look innocent.

Mary snorted at him and said, "And you wonder were Kili gets it from."

Thorin laughed and kissed her goodbye, then mounted his pony and rode off with a wave. Mary watched them until they were out of sight, then sighed to herself.

"It's going to be a long several months." She thought and then turned back to back to her rooms to change for the practice fields.

Upon turning the corner the intuition told her something was wrong. Looking around her she saw no one, but started walking faster to her rooms. Upon turning the corner she noticed her door standing open and knew that was not right. She remembered closing and locking her door. Distinctly aware that she had no weapons on her, Mary crept forward and reached out with the intuition. While it told her that this was wrong, it also told her there was no danger. She arrived at her rooms and pushed the door the rest of the way open an saw that the room had been ransacked. Everything was either gone through or destroyed. Her old cloak, which she had kept just in case she needed scraps, was lying on the floor in pieces like someone had cut it up with a dagger. Her bedroom was in much the same state and the blue dress that she had worn for Durin's Day last year was in the same state as her old cloak. Thankfully she had been wearing the cloak that Thorin had made for her. And sitting on the torn-up dress was another note:

**You were warned!**

Mary moved into her parent's rooms while the guard tried to find out who had done this. Finally she was able to move into some rooms closer to her parents. All of her belongings, that were not wrecked, were moved in. She was constantly on guard now, though everyone thought it was just a random break-in.

* * *

Mary was able to keep in touch with Thorin be the way of raven, though she still kept the threatening notes to herself. The months passed slowly with just the monotonous routine of guard shifts and everyday life. Every time a raven arrived she hid herself away with the letter, reading it over and over. But eventually the months did pass and one day she received a raven tell her that they had arrived in the Blue Mountains and Mary breathed a sigh of relief. At least he was safe for the time being.

Because of the attention the break-in had caused and how closely the guard was sticking to Mary, for the next couple of months no more threats came and Mary started to relax, hoping that the person had moved on, and started to prepare for Thorin's return. With Durin's Day just two weeks away, Thorin's company rode in and Mary was never happier in her life. She walk up to greet him and he swept her up in his arms. Mary felt like she was whole for the first time in months, not aware of the angry eyes that were watching them.

* * *

With Durin's Day close, Mary hurriedly worked to get a dress for the celebration. Thorin had been told about the break-in of her rooms and was not happy that the person had not been caught.

"Was anything taken?" he asked her one day.

"No, just a lot of my stuff was destroyed. But its ok. There was nothing that could not be replaced." Mary said.

Thorin grunted at this, still not happy about it. Mary was more concerned about the threatening notes, and hoping that they would not start up again. The week of the celebrations dawned and Mary ran to the dressmaker to see if her dress was finished. Thankfully it was and Mary was very relieved. This year she was wearing a dress that was a dark crimson red with gold trim. As the night came and her mother was once again fixing her hair, Mary could feel something was going to happen tonight. Thorin arrived and they all went down to the great hall together. Even though Mary noticed Thorin seemed a little more nervous than usual, nothing seemed amiss so she dismissed it and enjoyed their night together.

They were heading back after the party when Thorin turned to her and asked, "Would you join me in the Tower for a few minutes."

Mary smiled at him, glad for any excuse to be with him longer. They arrived in the room and Thorin asked her to dance one more time.

Mary laughed, "But there's no music." She said.

Thorin smiled and as he took her in his arms actually started humming. Mary smiled at this, he really had a beautiful singing voice she did not know why he did not use it more often.

"Mary I brought you up here because I wanted to talk to you." He said sounding very nervous and that caught her attention.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing is wrong." He said. "I just felt like this room was the perfect place to ask you something. This room is where our love began, where it grew and where it was declared."

"What are you going on about?" Mary asked confused.

"I love you, Mary and I don't think I can wait any longer without asking you this." He said as he knelt down on one knee.

"Oh Durin!" Mary gasped, finally getting what he was doing.

"Will you marry me?" He asked.

With tears in her eyes, Mary knelt down in front of him and place her hands on either side of his face.

"Please, please don't. Yes! A thousand times, yes! I will marry you. But you don't have to kneel to me. You have become everything I did not know I needed. You helped me to trust and break down the walls I built up. You became the protector I did not even know I needed. You showed me that I could open up to someone and step out from my anger. I love you more than I can tell." She said with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Thorin took her in his arms and kissed her passionately and, after a few minutes, pulled back and took her left hand. He then slipped a ring on her finger. It was silver and set with diamonds and sapphires. It was a dainty ring and beautifully made, but in truth she barely noticed it as she was too busy looking at him. The next night they announced to the city their engagement and it seemed everyone was happy, her parents were overjoyed to see them so in love. Mary felt that nothing could go wrong now that she had truly found her one true love. She did not know how wrong she was. Three weeks later, Mary came back to her rooms to find another note slipped under her door.

"Oh no!" she thought. This one read:

**You have not heeded our warnings!**

**Now you will regret it!**

Mary sat down after reading this, in truth she was scared but could not bring herself to tell anyone. As she did not know if this would place them in farther danger.

* * *

For the next week, Mary was as jumpy as a green recruit. Always watching over her shoulder waiting for something to happen. When it finally did, it was not what she was expecting, as she expected it to be against her. Coming from scouting duty, Mary had just left the guard room when Kaylah came running up to her in tears.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked, as the intuition had been telling her for the last couple of minutes that something had happened.

"It's Davon and Aaron. You have to come quick!" Kaylah said and they took off running.

Kaylah led her to Oin's office where the two boys lay on separate beds, unconscious.

"What happened?" Mary asked.

"They were out with their class, when someone started throwing rocks from the forest. One hit the pony that was pulling the wagon they were in and the pony took off. Aaron started to fall out and Davon tried to help him. The pony stumbled and the wagon over turned. Most of the children in that wagon got out ok but Davon and Aaron got thrown quite a ways." Kaylah said, tears running down her face.

"They're going to be okay, aren't they?" Mary asked Oin.

"The oldest boy has a broken leg and the youngest a broken arm. But we need to get them to wake up, as they hit their heads pretty hard." Oin replied.

Thorin came rushing in at that moment and Mary fell into his arms. He held her as she cried.

"I came as soon as I heard." He said.

"Has there been any change?" he asked Oin who shook his head.

"We will find who did this!" Thorin pledged, "Attacking a group of school children is despicable and I will not have a person like that running loose here!"

A moan from one of the beds got everyone's attention and they all looked to see Aaron opening his eyes.

"Mama!" he called and Kaylah rushed to his side.

"Right here. Mama is right her." She reassured him.

An hour later Davon awoke as well and everyone was relieved. Very early the next morning, not able to sleep for the first time in months, Mary was returning from checking in on the boys yet again, she found another note slipped under her door.

**Those boys did not need to be hurt!**

**Their blood is on your hands!**

**We will not stand by as the line of Durin is polluted!**

**Next time it will be a dead body you are standing over!**

**And next time it will be Thorin Oakenshield!**

**It's your choice, leave now or we will kill him!**

Mary sat down hard on the floor after reading this. She knew the choice she had to make and it was going to kill her. She knew what she had to do, the right thing to do. Mary got up slowly, her choice made, and with tears streaming down her face she wrote a couple of notes and then placed them and the ring Thorin had given her on a table where they would be found. Then she packed a small bag and crept out of her room and ran for the stables, praying she did not run into anyone on the way.

In the stables she hurriedly saddled Silver Mist and led her out into the early morning air. Seeing the mists were rising, Mary knew this was the perfect time to leave. Dressed in all gray again she mounted Silver and started to ride off into the mists, feeling a sense of déjà vu. She turned one last time and looked back at the mountain with tears in her eyes. Then, just like on that morning two years ago, faded into the mists. Once again becoming a phantom in the mists.


	16. (16) The search

Knowing it was Mary's free day, Mom and Dad let her sleep in. But when they had not heard from her by noon, they knew something was up. She had not even been in to check on the boys. So they went to her rooms to check on her and knocking on the door, found it open.

"That's odd." Mom said, worriedly and stepped into Mary's sitting room and called out for her.

She then spotted the engagement ring that Thorin had given Mary on a table next to two notes.

"Oh no!" Mom said, picking them up.

"Mom." She heard Joseph call.

"We are in here." Dad answered.

"Where is Mary?" Joseph asked, "The boys are asking for her."

Mom then turned with the notes, one addressed to her family and the other addressed to Thorin, and the ring in her hands.

"She left?!" Joseph asked astonished, "Why?!"

"I don't know, I have not read the notes just yet." Mom answered and opened the one addressed to the family. It read:

**Everyone,**

**Please know that I love you and that this decision comes very hard to me. But it is not safe for you in Erebor if I stay any longer. I am sorry that I am leaving with the boys injured. But it cannot be any other way. I will write when I am settled, but for the moment I cannot tell you were I am going for your own safety. You are safe here as long as I am gone. Please do not follow me.**

**Your loving Daughter, Sister, and Aunt,**

**Mary**

"Joseph I think you need to go run a get Thorin. He will want to read what she wrote to him. Maybe it sheds a little more light on what she is talking about." Mom said sitting down with tears in her eyes.

Thorin came hurrying in a several moments later.

"What's happened?!" he demanded.

Mom handed him the note that was addressed to him and the ring.

He stared at both of them, "She's gone?" he asked, shocked.

"Yes, she wrote that we were not safe if she was here. We were hoping that whatever she wrote you will explain more." Dad told him.

Thorin open the note and read:

**My Love,**

**By time you read this I will be far from Erebor and you will be safe. Please know that I love you with all my being, but I will not let you in danger because of me. Please look after my family as I know they will not understand. I go to keep you all safe. But know that my love for you goes with me and will never die. I ask that you do not follow me and keep yourself safe. If we never meet again, I pray Durin watches over you and the grace of the Valar protects you.**

**With all my love,**

**Mary**

Thorin closed his eyes and bowed his head at the pain that coursed through him; he was speechless from it for a few moments. He then opened his eyes and looked at the ring in his hand.

"What is she talking about, us being in danger?" He asked quietly, anger building inside him.

"We don't know, we only just…" Dad was saying when Joseph, who had gone into Mary's bedroom to look around for anything to explain her sudden departure, cut him off.

"I think I just found out." He said coming into the room with the four threatening notes Mary had received in his hand.

Thorin took them and read them, then crumpling them up threw them to the floor. Suddenly, he turned and slammed his fist into the wall, and ground out "Why must she always try to fix things herself? Why did she not tell us and ask for help?"

Then he asked quieter, more to himself, "Why didn't she ask me for help?"

Dad just shook his head, "It's the way she has been for years. She never really trusted anyone with the protection of those she loves. We thought she was changing these last couple of years, but I guess this just brought it all back. Old habits I guess." He said sadly.

Thorin looked at him and then left the room.

Stomping up to the guard room, he summoned both Dwalin and Tauriel, who recently came back to the guard. He told them what had happened.

"I want this person or persons found! They will rue the day they decided to mettle in affairs that are none of their business!"

"What about Mary?" Tauriel asked.

"We are heading out to look for her as soon as we are done here. Hopefully she has not gotten too far." Thorin said.

The two captains nodded and exited the room, leaving Thorin to his thoughts.

"Why did you not tell me?" He thought, "Mary you should know that you can trust me to protect you. Why do you insist on facing this alone when you don't have to?"

Thorin started pacing the room out of impatience and worry. While he waited Tauriel, even though she knew Thorin would be against it, sent a raven with a message to Legolas asking him to be on the lookout for Mary. Finally she and Dwalin rejoined Thorin and they headed out. They decided that southwest was the most likely was Mary would have gone, and headed to search in that direction. They searched most of the day, and would have most of the night if they had not made Thorin return with them, but other than finding some tracks that were hours old they found no other trace of her. For two more days they searched but could not find anything, but Thorin swore to himself that he would not give up until he found her.

On the third day of searching, Tauriel found him in his sitting room preparing to leave again.

"We have word." She simply said.

"From whom?" he asked hurrying after her wondering which of the search parties had turned up something.

"Since she was obviously headed southwest, I sent a raven to Legolas to keep a watch out for her, I just got a reply. He has news and will meet us in the southwest meadow." She explained.

Thorin stopped and glared at her, obviously not happy that she had involved Legolas as he was not too keen to be asking for help from someone that had once called him a liar and a thief.

But Tauriel just rolled her eyes at him and said, "The elven guard had eyes all over Mirkwood. If she passed by that way, they will have seen her."

She turned and started walking to the stables again, and asked angrily over her shoulder, "Are you coming or not?!"

Thorin, still not liking it but willing to swallow a bit of his pride if it meant finding Mary, followed Tauriel to the stables and they mounted and rode out.

* * *

Legolas, elven prince of Mirkwood, was a tall slender elf with long white blond hair and blue eyes. He and several of the elven guard were waiting in the southwest meadow when Tauriel, Thorin, and Dwalin arrived. Even though there people had been at peace these last twelve years, the greetings between him and Thorin were still very stiff.

After Tauriel and Legolas exchanged greetings, Thorin cut in impatiently, "Enough of the formalities! You sent word that you had news of the person we are looking for."

Legolas looked at him for a moment and then said, with a slight smirk, "Yes, you're betrothed."

Now it was Thorin's turn to stare, "News travels fast." He said.

"Don't look so surprised. The King under the Mountain finally deciding to marry was big news... to some." Legolas said with a small smirk.

"But why did she run I wonder?" he asked

"That's none of your business!" Thorin said angrily.

Legolas was about to answer back when Tauriel stepped in.

"Please you two, this is not helping. Legolas we just need to find her. She may be in danger." She explained.

Finally Legolas nodded and said, "One of the captains came to me and said that yesterday morning, just after sunrise, he spotted a lone rider along the edge of the forest just north of the river. As the mists were thick he, at first, mistook her for a phantom. It was not until she stopped to rest her pony, that he got a good look at her. She was a mixed race woman with dark red hair, dressed in all gray and riding a dappled gray pony. She had a most peculiar broach on her cloak. It was in the shape of a rose in full bloom."

Upon hearing this detail Thorin, all animosity forgotten, urged him to continue.

"She did not stop long; it was almost as if she knew she was being watched. She headed south toward the old forest road. After I heard this report, I thought about the message I received from Tauriel about the woman you were looking for." He continued.

"So I went south, to see what I could find. I came upon the bargemen from Lake-town collecting the barrels. He said that a lone woman rider had paid him 10 gold coins to ferry her and her pony across the river yesterday at noon. She then continued south and most likely has reached the road by now." Legolas finished and Tauriel thanked him, seeing Thorin was lost in thought.

"Why would she be heading so far south?" Tauriel asked on the ride back.

"Bree, her family was heading to Bree when she first entered Erebor. Her elder sister lives there, I think. And the Old Forest Road is the safest way." Thorin answered.

"At least you know where she may be heading." Tauriel said, trying to sound encouraging.

"Maybe, there is a lot of country between here and Bree." Dwalin put in.

* * *

"To Bree?" Mom asked Thorin when he told them what the elves had reported.

"But why? Christine no longer lives there. She married a merchant from Gondor and lives in Minas Tirith now." Dad said.

"Why would she be heading in that direction then?" Thorin asked.

"She could be wanting to head west. Her grandmother lives in the Blue Mountains, so maybe that is where she is heading." Mom answered.

"I will send a raven telling my kin to watch for her." Thorin assured them.

They continued searching for the next two months, but when she did not show up in the Blue Mountains or in Bree, as far as his kin and their contacts could tell, Thorin started to feel despair about ever finding her and deadly anger at whoever had written the threats. As they were on the trail of them as well and Thorin swore he was going to make them regret ever taking this course of action. But he still could not help but worry, where was she? Had she headed to Bree, where people of her kind were more accepted or to Gondor and Minas Tirith closer to her sister, or, as his thoughts had tortured him late in the night, had she met with foul play on the road? No matter what, Thorin swore he would never stop looking until he found her.

* * *

**Sorry I know its a short chapter, but can't reveal everything all at once, right?**

**Please review and let me know how you felt.**


	17. (17) Thorn

A year and a half later:

Mary did not think it would have taken her four months to reach Bree, and she had not been planning on staying here. But after dodging Orcs in the Misty Mountains, and getting lost once or twice, she had finally made it to the Great East Road and was almost to Bree when Silver Mist picked up a stone bruise in her right front hoof and went lame. She had made it to Bree and decided to stay long enough for Silver to rest and heal. She knew Christine had long since moved to Gondor with her husband, and so had no plans on staying. But Silver had been slow in healing and with money short, Mary had went looking for work. She got on with a group that guarded merchants from the Shire, Hobbits mainly, and their families as they brought their products to Bree for sale.

When they asked her name when she was hired Mary said, "Just call me Thorn."

"And where are you from?" the leader of the group had asked.

"My past is my own business." Mary had answered.

"Huh, I see you are as prickly as your name." He had said, but with her skills he still hired her.

Now she had been here a little over a year now and she had written her family to let them know she was safe and settled, just not where. She lived in a little house on the outskirts of town and earned a modest living. It was enough to keep her and Silver Mist comfortable and they were usually left alone. One day in early spring was the first time that she thought she had been found.

"Thorn we may have a longer job this time. If you want it." Her employer said.

"What is it?" she had asked.

"A few dwarves from the east, Erebor I think, are traveling through. They are merchants with their families and are interested in hiring extra guards to take them through to the Blue Mountains." He said and Mary stopped dead.

"You said Erebor?" she asked.

"Yeah, been there?" her employer asked.

"Once. Give the job to someone else. Dwarves don't particularly like Half-breeds." She said, then turned and left not giving him a chance to argue.

Mary then made her way quickly to the market, she had to know if she had been found or if this was just simply merchants passing through. Keeping hidden behind one of the vendor's stalls, she observed the group. She recognized a few of them, but saw no danger until she recognized a couple of familiar faces in the group. Mary quickly ducked out of sight when Dwalin, Gloin, and Bofur appeared out of the Prancing Pony. She hurried home and did not go back into town until she was sure that the group had left. She also kept a watch out for their return journey, hoping she would be able to avoid being found out.

Mary contemplated leaving, but decided against it since no one knew she was here and she made a good enough living and could remain anonymous. She also considered sending a message to her mother, maybe she could go home. She missed Thorin dearly and wished things could be different. When these thought came, Mary pushed them down. There was nothing she could do. She was a danger to them and the best way to keep them safe was to stay away. She had always known she was destined for a life of solitude, but she would always cherish the time she had had with Thorin and the love they had shared. A love that still burned bright in her heart.

What Mary did not anticipate was the three dwarves stopping in the Shire, on their way back from the Blue Mountains, at the home of a certain Hobbit. Dwalin knocked on the round, green door and waited. The door opened and there stood Bilbo Baggins. He had curly, light brown hair and brown eyes and a quiet demeanor.

"Dwalin! Gloin! Bofur! Good to see you. What has brought you all the way from Erebor?" He asked excitedly as her welcomed them in.

"Escorting some merchants to the Blue Mountains. We are just heading back and thought we would stop and look in on you before continuing on to Bree tonight." Bofur asked as they settled in the dining room.

"Your continuing on to Bree tonight? No, I won't hear of it. You three are staying here tonight. There's plenty of room." Bilbo said.

After dinner they settled in the parlor with their pipes.

"So tell me, what's been happening these past years. I assume Erebor is thriving and Thorin is doing well." Bilbo said.

"Erebor is thriving but Thorin is going through a hard time right now." Bofur said.

"What's happened?" Bilbo asked.

Dwalin sighed and explained, "He was engaged to be married last year."

Bilbo looked surprised.

"Thorin?" he asked, stunned.

"Yes, well she was good for him. I had never seen him so happy." Dwalin said sadly.

"But something happened?" Bilbo asked and the three dwarves nodded.

"Someone in Erebor was sending her threatening notes. We now know who, but before we found out about the threats they told her they would kill Thorin if she did not leave. We only found out the morning her family found her gone. Thorin has been looking for her for over a year now." Dwalin finished.

Bilbo looked at them, his shock and anger clearly showing on his face.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Bilbo asked, genuinely saddened by what had happened.

"Well we have been asking everyone we know to keep an eye out for her." Gloin said.

"Of course. What does she look like? I can send word if I see anything." Bilbo said.

"About five foot, dark, red hair and fair skin. She is of mixed race. But the most noticeable about her is her hazel eyes. She usually carries two elfish long blades on her back and a bow and arrows. The arrows would be silver wood with gray feathers." Dwalin said describing Mary.

Upon hearing about the eye color, Bilbo looked thoughtful.

"It sounds like you are describing a travel guard that operates out of Bree." he said.

"Travel guard?" Bofur asked.

"Yes, she escorts merchants and their families, usually hobbits, from the Shire to the market in Bree and back. I do believe I have heard her name is Thorn. I have hired her a few times, she is good at what she does but she is also as prickly as her name implies." Bilbo explained, "She is usually seen riding a silvery dappled gray pony she calls Misty."

Dwalin looked at him and said, "Well we don't want to rush in and disturb anyone if it not her."

"Is there anything else that you have heard that would help us be certain that is it her or not?" Bofur asked getting excited.

"Well, I was at the green dragon one night when I overheard a young lady, whose family was escorted by Thorn, describe a long thin scar she has down the back of her left arm. Said it looked like someone cut down her arm with a rusty knife." Bilbo said.

"It sounds like her. But I would need to see her to be sure." Dwalin said, feeling hopeful.

"Well I could go with you to Bree in the morning as I have to drop off a payment to her employer anyway." Bilbo offered.

This agreed upon they all retired for the night.

* * *

The next morning they set out for Bree together and arrived there around evening the next day. As Bilbo approached Mary's employer at his shop, the dwarves made themselves as inconspicuous as possible.

"Mr. Baggins." Mary's employer greeted Bilbo.

"Here to hire us again?" he asked.

"No, I have a payment for Thorn's services." Bilbo answered.

"Ah yes. Thorn!" he called to a back room and Mary came out and stood in front of Bilbo.

"Your share of the payment." Her employer said handing her the coins.

Mary nodded and put them in a pouch at her side. She was about to leave when the intuition suddenly told her she was being watched and she looked toward the front windows of the shop. She could see nothing but the usual traffic outside, but the feeling would not go away and made her very edgy.

"If there is no work today, I have more important things to attend to.' She said sharply and left with a polite nod to Bilbo.

"Good to see you again Master Baggins." She said and left the shop.

Her employer sighed and said, "If she was not one of my best female guards, I would fire her for that mouth."

Bilbo just nodded and left. Outside her met up with the dwarves, "Well?" he questioned.

Dwalin looked at him, obviously happy.

"Thorin will be in your debt again Bilbo. It's her." He said.

The other dwarves were all fired up and ready to send for Thorin immediately, but Dwalin stopped them.

"No, if he was to just show up on her door step, she would probably just run again. So scared is she that she is putting him in danger. No I have a plan. We need to leave for Erebor at first light." He said and then he laid out the plan.

When everyone was in agreement they went and sat to dinner and in the morning parted ways.

They did not say goodbye for they would be seeing each other real soon.


	18. (18) The Plan

A little over a month later the three dwarves arrived back at Erebor and entered the stables.

"Good to see you all back. Ready for a long rest?" The stable master greeted them as they dismounted.

"Not this time. Make sure there are five fresh ponies ready, as we will be riding back out with Thorin and Nori in the morning." Dwalin said and then ran off to find Thorin as the other two prepared for their return trip to Bree.

After looking around, Dwalin found Thorin in the Tower room. He was standing staring out the window. About eight months after Mary had left, they had found out who had been behind the threats and attacks. The betrayal Thorin felt at it being one of his own nobles, even though he had not particularly trusted the man, just added to the burden of sadness he felt ever since Mary had been chased off. The man claimed he had been persuaded into action by his wife, whose dislike for Mary was well known. Though Thorin had tried to hide it and carry on, everyone could see the sadness and loss weighting on him immensely.

Thorin turned when Dwalin entered and greeted him, noticing that he look fit to burst.

"We have news." Dwalin said.

Thorin looked at him, though he had never given up hope, he did not want to suffer another false lead.

"We have found her. She is in Bree. And before you ask, yes I am sure, I saw her myself." Dwalin said, "She goes by the name of Thorn now."

Thorin looked at him, stunned and then put a hand to the chain that hung around his neck. On it was the ring he had given Mary.

"How did she look? Did you speak with her?" Thorin asked, his hopes rising.

"She looked okay, a little thin maybe. She was still wearing the cloak and brooch you gave her. Her demeanor has been described very off putting by some of the townspeople there, like she is pushing everyone away now. I did not talk to her as I did not want to scare her into running again." Dwalin told him.

"Then how did you find her?" Thorin asked as they started to ready for the return trip.

"An old friend of ours helped." Dwalin answered with a smile. "We stopped in the Shire and looked in on Bilbo, who just happened to recognize her description. She is working as a travel guard, protecting hobbit merchants heading to the market in Bree."

Thorin smiled, his first in over a year, "Well it seems I owe Master Baggins another debt." He said.

"We need to leave tomorrow. I have a plan, but we will have to be very quick about it once we are there if we are going to get around that sixth sense of hers." Dwalin said.

Thorin nodded and they parted ways to finish their preparations and Thorin went and told the news to Mary's family. They were relieved that she had been found. Thorin then spent a long sleepless night hoping and praying that this plan worked. They left as soon as the sun rose.

* * *

For the next three months life carried on as usual for Mary, she had heard that the Erebor dwarves had returned through Bree and left. She thought she should feel relieved, but she didn't. Seeing Dwalin, Thorin's closest friend and confidant, just made Mary's self-exile here worse. She had not thought that she could miss Thorin any more than she had the first couple of nights after leaving Erebor. Now she knew she had been wrong. If people thought her attitude was off putting before, she now heard them describe her as downright unpleasant.

She kept to herself more often now, even on the job, she rarely socialized with the clients or her fellow troop members. At night she barely slept anymore, and knew that the sleep deprivation was going to take its toll on her control over her emotions and the intuition. But every time she slept now all she saw was Thorin's face and always awoke in tears. It almost made her wish for the nightmares she use to have, at least the fear she could handle, but the feeling that her heart was being ripped out over and over again she did not know if she would be able to stand it much longer.

It was now mid-summer in Bree and business was slow. It would not pick up again until it was time for harvest in the Shire. Mary tried hard to keep busy and keep her mind off how increasingly miserable she was becoming. She knew that she would never be able to return to Erebor but her stubborn heart would not listen. One day she was in the back room at her employer's shop, going over the records from her last assignment. When she heard the small bell over the door sound. She then heard voices, distinctly male voices, talking to her employer.

One of her troop members came in the back and said "There are some dwarves out there asking questions about you, Thorn."

Mary got up, walked to the door and peeked out. What she saw stopped her dead. Dwalin and Gloin were standing there. Mary ducked back in the room and ran for the back door.

"Where are you going?" her co-worker asked.

"If the boss comes looking for me tell him I had things to do." She answered and turned to head out the door and was just leaving when she heard her employer bellow her name.

Upon hearing him she broke into a run and did not stop until she reached her small cottage.

* * *

Mary's employer came stomping in to the back room, with Dwalin and Gloin following behind, a few seconds after Mary had run out.

"Ferris, where's Thorn?!" her employer asked her co-worker.

"I came back here to tell her that the two dwarves where asking about her. She went and looked out the door then turned around and ran for the back door. She looked like she was either running for her life or saw a ghost. She said to tell you that she had things to do." Ferris explained.

"She is not in any trouble is she?" he asked.

Her employer turned to Dwalin who just said "We just need to talk to her. She is in no trouble."

"Where does she live maybe we can talk to her there?" Gloin asked.

Her employer sighed, "Well you will be able to find out from anyone, since this is such a small town. She lives in a small cottage on the west side of town at the very outskirts. You can't miss it as it is the only one out that far."

* * *

Mary arrived back at her place in a panic. She rushed around trying to pack everything she needed.

"Somehow they have found me, I have to get out of here now!" she thought, even as a little voice in her head kept asking her why she was still running and that maybe it was time to stop.

Mary shook her head and pushed the little voice down. She knew why she had to keep moving and she was not going to put Thorin and her family in danger again. She finished packing the two small bags and her bed roll and headed out, whistling for Silver Mist as she rounded the house. Mary looked in the lean-to, saw she was not there and prayed she had not wandered into the Barrow Downs again. On their first week here, Silver had wandered into the Barrow Downs and Mary had gone after her. While looking for the pony Mary had had an encounter with what the people here called a Barrow Wraith. Right now Mary was not ready for another encounter with the being that lived there.

Fortunately Silver answered the whistle, being only a couple yards off grazing. Mary caught the pony by her halter and led her over to the lean-to and hurriedly saddled her, putting her pack on her back and tying her bed roll and other bag to the back of the saddle. She then decided to head back east, by using back alleyways and yards to sneak back through town. She knew they would probably expect her to keep going west. Mary thought that if she could just get out of town she could get away before they caught up to her. She made it to the east side of town and was just about to the road when she noticed two dwarves sitting by a creek on the side of the path. Mary hid behind a tree, seeing it was Nori and Bofur.

Nori was keeping watch on the path and Bofur was fishing. Mary cursed her bad luck, if it had been Bofur keeping watch she probably could have snuck past. But there was no way she was going to sneak past Nori, a former burglar, as his senses and instincts were too sharp. Mary turned around and made her way back west, still avoiding the main road, she decided to head for Hobbiton and after that the Tower Hills should offer her a good place to hide for a while with them being so close to the Grey Havens. She passed through the west gate with barely a nod to the gate keeper.

* * *

Dwalin and Gloin arrived at Mary's house just a few minutes after she left, heading east. Seeing the door standing open, they went in a looked around.

"Looks like she left in a hurry." Gloin said.

"She was expecting that we would find our way here." Dwalin said.

After looking around they went back out and headed back toward the east on the main road, coincidentally passing Mary who was using a back alley. Gloin arrived back where Nori and Bofur where, as Dwalin had gone to check with the gatemen on the north and south to see if she went either way.

"She did not come this way. And this is the only east way out of town." Nori said as Gloin joined them.

Just then a raven landed near them with a message from Dwalin. Bofur took it a read it.

"Dwalin says the gatemen have not seen her going north or south. But the west gatemen saw her leave about an hour ago, heading toward Hobbiton. Dwalin wants us to meet him at the Prancing Pony." He said.

They headed back in to town and met up with Dwalin.

"I have already sent another raven to Thorin. He is ready for the next part of the plan. We need to follow her and make sure she keeps heading the right way." he informed them, with that said they mounted and headed out the west gate.

* * *

Mary rode almost all night, knowing she would not sleep. She only stopped long enough to rest Silver and to force herself to eat, though she could not get herself to eat much. She reached Hobbiton by evening the next day, completely exhausted but knowing that she needed to keep moving, and was passing slowly through when she was stopped by someone calling to her.

"Thorn! What a relief to run into you!" Bilbo said coming out of the Green Dragon.

"One of your co-workers forgot something with the last group I hired you for. I have it at my place if you could come and get it." He said happily.

"Well actually I…" Mary tried to say when Bilbo quickly cut her off.

"It would be a great help. I won't be going to Bree for some time and I would hate to deprive them of it." He said seeming a little pushier than was normal for him and his demeanor seemed a little off but Mary was so exhausted that she could not even listen to the little tickle that the intuition was giving her in the back of her mind.

"Master Baggins…" Mary tried again tiredly.

"Please, please it would really be a great help." He said insistently.

"Fine." She said with a sigh, seeing she was not going to get away from him, "Just make it quick."

And with that she followed him to Bag End. As they got closer, the intuition got more insistent that something was up until, just outside Bilbo's gate, it sent her a signal that broke through her tired mind.

"Master Baggins, I am sorry, maybe you should get someone else. I have somewhere I really need to be." She said trying to leave.

"Oh but please, it's just inside the parlor." He practically begged.

Mary stopped and tried to examine the feeling sent by the intuition. She knew that lack of sleep could mess with the sense and send false signals.

"And besides this was Bilbo Baggins, there probably was no less dangerous a person in all of Middle Earth." Mary thought to herself.

"Okay, let's go get it and so I can be on my way." She said.

Bilbo nodded looking relieved, which Mary found a little strange, and motioned for Mary to follow him into Bag End. Once inside, Mary could not shake the feeling that something was going on and kept looking around as if a goblin was about to jump out of one of the overstuffed cabinets.

"Just in here." Bilbo said as he motioned her ahead of him into the parlor.

Mary nodded, entered the room and stopped, frozen in place, eyes wide. There, standing in front of the fireplace, was Thorin Oakenshield. Looking at him, Mary felt several things at once. Happiness, fear, and sadness for what could never be.

"Thorin! Oh no! No! No!" Mary said, backing away, shaking her head.

"Mary, wait!" he said.

"No! You should not be here!" she cried, exhaustion pushing her to hysteria.

"Mary please wait! I just want to talk." Thorin said.

"No, I can't. I…I…" she tried to say but, finally, her tired mind could take no more and, eyes rolling back in her head, Mary fainted dead away.

Thorin rushed forward and caught her before she hit the floor.

"Is she alright?!" Bilbo asked concerned.

"Yes, just completely exhausted." Thorin answered.

"Can I borrow a room for her?" he asked.

"Of course." Bilbo answered.

Thorin then picked Mary up, holding her close, and followed Bilbo to a bedroom, gently laying her on the bed, removing her pack, cloak, long blades and quiver, containing her bow and arrows. He then pulled a chair up close. Not even noticing that Bilbo had left the room, Thorin sat and watched her sleep determined to be right there when she woke up, not wanting to give her a chance to run again.

"This will be the last time. I will not let you run from me again!" Thorn said to Mary as she slept.


	19. (19) Return to Erebor

Mary woke slowly, at first confused as to where she was. As she opened her eyes and found herself alone in a strange bedroom, it all came back to her. Dwalin and Gloin had found her and drove her into a trap! She was at Bag End and Thorin was here! Mary started to get up slowly, trying to be quiet and hoping she could get out before Thorin came back. For she was sure he would not leave her alone for long. Just as she was about to walk to the door it opened and, thankfully, Bilbo stood on the other side.

"Your awake." He said, "Wait here; I will go tell Thorin, he just stepped outside to talk with Dwalin."

But as Bilbo turned to go, Mary suddenly grabbed him and all but tossed him back into the room. She then slammed the door closed. Mary had noticed that her long blades and bow and arrows were gone but Thorin had, once again, forgotten her boot daggers. Mary drew out Briar and held it where Bilbo could see it.

"I do not want to hurt you, Master Baggins, but I cannot have you telling Thorin that I am awake just yet." She said approaching him.

"Mary please…" Bilbo said, scurrying backward.

"The name's Thorn!" she all but yelled at him.

"Mary was left behind in Erebor! She failed and put her loved ones at risk, again, by allowing herself to become soft and think she could have a normal life! I am a half-breed! I can never have a normal life! That was made painfully obvious!" Mary said bitterly with tears in her eyes.

She quickly approached Bilbo, then grabbing him made him sit down on a chair.

"Don't make a sound and you will be fine." She said.

Then proceeded to tie him up, using the bed sheets and making a makeshift gag out of a handkerchief she found in his pocket. Then she ran to the window and, fortunately, found it unlocked and just as she was shimming her way out, heard Thorin's voice in the hall.

"Thank you, Dwalin." He was saying.

Upon hearing Thorin, Mary quickly squeezed herself quickly out the window and ran for the clearing behind Bag End, as that would be the most probable place they would have put Silver Mist.

Thorin reached the bedroom and quietly opened the door, not wanting to wake Mary if she was still sleeping. But instead he found Bilbo tied to a chair and gagged. Looking at the open window, he sighed completely exasperated.

Dwalin, behind him, actually chuckled, "Here we go again."

Thorin untied Bilbo, "Did she say anything?" he asked.

Bilbo looked at him, nodded and told him everything Mary had said. Thorin was saddened by Mary's words, he had known convincing her to come home would be hard and now he knew just how hard. They started out of the room and headed down the hall and out of Bag End, toward the clearing as Thorin knew Mary would never leave without Silver Mist.

"Well at least she does not have her weapons." Dwalin stated.

"She had a dagger that she pulled out of her boot." Bilbo said and Thorin sighed, he could not believe he had forgotten about those again.

* * *

Mary reached the clearing and saw Silver standing with five other ponies. She was running over to the pony when she heard the footsteps behind.

"That was faster than expected." She thought.

She had just made it to the corral when she heard Thorin's voice behind her.

"Mary, for once stop running away!" He said.

She stopped, her hand on the top rail, and closed her eyes.

"Thorin, this is for the best. I am a danger to you. I won't have you hurt again because of me!" She replied.

"Just let me go." She said sadly, not knowing that he was very close behind her.

When he put his hands on her shoulders, she jumped and turned around.

"NO! I am not letting you run away from me again!" He said.

Neither of them noticed Dwalin and Bilbo discreetly leave.

"I am not running away from you. I am trying to protect you and my family! They said they would kill you and I cannot let that happen!" Mary said, on the verge of tears.

"Don't I get a say in this?" He asked, stepping closer to her.

"Thorin, please. I can't put you in danger again." Mary said not sure if she would be able to hold it together much longer.

Thorin looked at her sadly, then lifted his hand and cupped her cheek.

"You don't have to face this alone. I can protect you and our family, if you will let me." He said quietly.

Mary's tears spilled over and one ran over his hand. He moved his thumb and brushed it away, then leaned his forehead against hers.

"You just need to trust me. We can face this together." Thorin said.

Mary looked at him, shook her head and asked him the question that had been on her mind since he started showing interest in her.

"Why me?" She asked. "You should be courting some dwarf woman, some noble woman. Not a half-breed nobody."

"There would have been a time I would have agreed with you. But after Fili died, I did not have the heart to forbid Kili his love for Tauriel. Even though I knew that any child they had would be mixed. But seeing how they were able to get past the old feuds and even help heal the past between our two peoples, helped me to change. You helped to finish what they started in me." He explained.

Mary shook her head again.

"You deserve better than me." She told him.

Thorin looked deep into her eyes and smiled, "I deserve you. For me there is no better."

Mary looked into his beautiful blue eyes that she had so missed and all the love she felt for him came flooding through her.

She tried to push away her feelings, remembering the danger she had put him in. Mary pulled away from him, wrapping her arms around herself she walked away a short distance.

"I am sorry Thorin, but I cannot go back. There are those who want to harm you simply because I am there." She said sadly.

"I know. We found the notes the day you left. But the danger in past." Thorin told her.

"How could you know that?" she asked, bitterness creeping into her voice.

"Because we have already found out who sent you the threats and they have been punished and banished from Erebor. It was Ma'z and her husband Fallon. She sent you the notes and broke into your rooms. He was the one that shot me and attacked the wagon that the boys were riding in. They are gone." He said and Mary stopped with her back still to him.

"Why would they do that" she asked.

"It turns out that Ma'z is cousin to Don and niece of Den. It was her that originally started spreading the rumors. I guess when that did not get me to send you away and we started courting, her family's prejudice came out and she decided to get rid of you herself. I am just thankful that you were not injured again." He explained.

Thorin walked up behind her and said quietly, "Mary, look at me please."

Mary turned around, tears still falling down her face.

"They are gone. It's safe now. You don't have to try and protect everyone on your own anymore." He said, pulling her into an embrace.

Mary gave in and, resting her head on his shoulder, finally let herself cry out all her fears and heartache from over the last year.

"Please come home." Thorin said tenderly.

"Home?" she asked uncertainty.

"Yes. Erebor **_is _**your home." Thorin said with absolute confidence.

He cupped her cheek again and asked, "Will you please come home?"

Mary then leaned her face against his hand and nodded. Thorin then smiled a tender smile at her and leaned down and kissed her. Mary sighed and, for the first time in a year and a half, both of them felt complete again.

* * *

Though she had agreed to go back, Mary still felt nervous. What if there were others that wanted to harm Thorin or her family? What if this was a bad decision and put them at risk again? She had changed over the last year and was not the same woman who had left Erebor. What if Thorin found this out and did not love her anymore? These thoughts kept her up for the first couple of nights and she ended up pacing the corridors of Bag End. They had decided to stay with Bilbo for two more weeks, so Mary could get all her affairs in order and everything ready for the journey back.

"Still having trouble sleeping?" Thorin asked on the third night when he found her in the parlor staring out the window.

Mary turned to him, but did not smile.

"Too many thoughts in my head." She said simply.

Thorin walked over to her and took her hand. He led her over to the couch and sat down with her.

"Tell me." He said.

Mary just looked away and said "Their silly."

Thorin snorted and said "So tell me anyway."

Mary looked at him and shook her head in disbelief.

"You really are too stubborn for your own good." She said.

"Birds of a feather, my dear." He replied, "You trying to avoid telling me. It won't work."

Mary looked at him and saw that he was not going to give up, so she told him what was on her mind.

Thorin sighed and answered each one of the questions.

"There might be others, I don't know. But I assure you, our family will never be at risk from them again. I can see that you have changed, so have I. So has our relationship. We have both been put through the fire and I believe that we are stronger for it." He said then he took her chin in his hand and brought her eyes to his, "I will always love you. I think I love you more now than I did a year ago."

Mary looked at him and knew that, in that moment, she was making the right choice. She decided that is was time, finally, to stop running and trying to handle things herself. She need to trust this man, the man she loved, to stand by her and they would face things together.

Mary looked into his eyes and said the words she had been dying to say again for a year and a half. "I love you Thorin. More so now than ever before!"

Thorin smiled at her and pulled her into an embrace. They sat like that, perfectly content to just watch the moon move across the sky, until they both fell asleep.

* * *

That was how the other found them in the morning.

"Well you two certainly look comfortable." Said Nori with a grin.

Mary squeaked out in surprise and hid her red face against Thorin's chest. He simply picked up a pillow and threw it at them.

"Shut up and go away!" he grumbled, laughing.

"Are two going to get up, or do we get to eat your breakfast?" Dwalin called from the dining room.

"Go kiss a Balrog, Dwalin!" Thorin called back, but they got up and went in to breakfast.

The rest of their time with Bilbo was pleasant, as Mary finished her preparation and was ready to go. Before they left she sent a raven to her family telling them to expect her return. Their response was overwhelming joy. A little over a month later, when they arrived back in Erebor, the reception that she received touched her deeply. She did not know that so many people cared for her. Seeing her family again was a special moment, and she swore she would never willingly leave them again. After the fervor had died down, Mary and Thorin took some time to themselves, in the Tower room.

"I have missed it here." Mary said looking around.

"You have been missed." Thorin said.

Mary walked over to him and looked into his eyes.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am for the pain I caused you with my departure." She said.

Thorin picked up her hand and held it tightly.

"That's all behind us now. But I do have something to give back to you." Thorin said as he removed the chain from around his neck.

On it she saw the ring he had given her.

"I hope I don't need to ask again." He said with a smile and slid it back on her left hand, "There now it is back where it belongs."

Mary smiled at him and leaned forward and gently kissed him. Thorin smiled and pulled her to him; she laid her head in the crook of his shoulder and thought she would never be any happier than she was right at that moment.

* * *

**Disclaimer: No Hobbits were harmed in the making of this chapter. Hope you enjoyed. Please let me know in the review section!**


	20. (20) The Wedding and afterward

**Hi folks, sorry it took me so long to post this. I did not know what I wanted to do after the last chapter. I started working on another fic until I was able to figure out where to go with this. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Three months later, on a beautiful autumn day, Thorin and Mary were finally married. The ceremony took place in the Gallery of the Kings, where Mary had once been told that the floor had been turned to solid gold in an attempt to kill Smaug. But Thorin, wanting make sure he did not fall back into the Gold Sickness, had it dug up and melted down. Now the floor was made of a beautiful green jade. Mary waited in a room just off the Gallery as a few maids helped her to get ready. Her dress was white and came off the shoulder and was adorned with lace and silver with full lace sleeves and a long trailing veil. When everything was in place, Dad stepped in the room and handed her a small bouquet of red roses.

"Ready." He asked and Mary nodded, then asked in return, "Are you?"

"To give away my little girl?" He asked, with tears in his eyes, "Never."

Mary smiled at him and they embraced and stepped out to the sound of the orchestra and started the walk down to where Thorin stood. Standing with him on the raised platform were Kili, Dwalin and Bilbo. Gandalf the Grey, whom Mary had just met a week prior, had agreed to officiate the ceremony along with a dwarf official. How the wizard and hobbit had gotten to Erebor so fast was a mystery Mary could only wonder at. Though Mary was able to take time to apologize to the hobbit for her actions months earlier, though he did not seem particularly bother by them and was genuinely happy for Thorin and her. Tauriel, Becky and a recent friend she had made, named Joy, stood with Mary.

Walking down to Thorin, Mary had to keep her jaw from dropping. She had seen him wear the crown before at the Durin's Day celebrations, but this was the first time she had seen him truly attired as the king he was. He wore a blue tunic that was elaborately embroidered with gold and what she thought was Mithril thread. It was adorned with all sorts of tiny gems. Under this he wore golden chain mail. He also wore a long, fur lined black cape and with the crown on his head looked every inch the King he was. Thorin descended the stairs to the platform and, after Mary turned and embraced her dad one last time, Dad placed her right hand in Thorin's left. Thorin led her up the stair and they declared their vows before the whole assembled audience, which included all the inhabitants of Erebor, along with The Kings of Mirkwood and Dale, and Thorin's kin from the Iron Hills King Dain.

* * *

After the ceremony, there was a joyous reception. There was lots of dancing, food and so many people to meet that Mary was sure she would never keep them all straight. The party lasted the rest of the day and well into the night.

"This might even surpass the parties that you described in Mirkwood!" Kili said loudly to Tauriel, earning himself a glare from King Thranduil who had obviously overheard.

Kili just looked at him, smiled and shrugged while leading Tauriel out on the floor for another dance. Finally it came time for the newlyweds to retire and Mary was led to what would now be Thorin and her apartments. The same maids that had helped her to get ready this morning came back and helped her out of her wedding gown and into a long white night dress with long, gossamer sleeves. They then left her and Mary, feeling quite nervous, went and stood before the window. Unlike the one in her first rooms this one faced east, and Mary stared out over the beautiful expanse of forest land. Finally behind her the door opened and Thorin stepped in. He was wearing just a white buttoned shirt and black trousers. He walked over to her and smiled.

"You look scared." He said sounding nervous.

"More like nervous," she admitted, "I'm still a …"

Thorin put a finger to her lips and stopped her.

"I know." He said gently and held her to him.

Mary laid her head against his chest and listened to his heart. The fast beat told her she was not the only one nervous about tonight. Mary looked up at him and smiled as her gently stroked her cheek. All nervousness gone, she knew she would always be safe in his arms.

* * *

The next two years were the happiest that either of them could ever remember having. They would spend as much time together as their duties would allow. Whether it was sneaking away from boring council meetings, one such occasion was accompanied by a grumble from Dwalin to Kili, who saw them sneak out, "Newlyweds." Or just sitting quietly together in the Tower room, which was now their own private retreat. It was decided that Mary would leave the guard since her new duties, not to mention Thorin's worries, now occupied most of her attention. Mary settled into married life quite easily and threw herself into learning all that was required of her as the new queen of Erebor. She was determined that she would learn what she needed as to be a help to Thorin and make him proud of her.

Mary was helping Thorin get ready for another trip, annual trade negotiations with Mirkwood and Esgaroth, when he turned and asked, "You are going to see Oin while I am gone?"

Mary had been feeling ill for the last week. She had thought it was just the normal stomach sickness that went around this time of the year and tried to brush it off, not wanting to worry Thorin since he had to think about this trip and had a lot on his mind. This worked right up until yesterday morning he walked into the rooms and caught her in the bathroom losing her breakfast.

"It's probably just the normal stomach sickness that goes around this time of year," she said, earning herself a glare from Thorin, "but yes I will be seeing him tomorrow."

"Don't worry you will only be gone two weeks. I am fine." She tried to reassure him.

Thorin groaned and pulled her into an embrace.

"It's going to be a long two weeks." He said and sighed when there was a knock at the door.

Mary just laughed at him.

"It's time to go." She said with a smile.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Mary asked Oin the next day, stunned. He had just finished looking at her.

"Yes, lass. You symptoms are unmistakable." He told her.

* * *

**CLIFF HANGER! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Please review. And if you are interested please read my other fic Firebringer!**

**ttys :3**


	21. (21) Announcements

Mary paced around their apartments, nervously awaiting word that Thorin's company had been sighted. She had received a letter from him saying that they would be delayed for around three weeks, as his presence was requested in the Iron Hills after the trade negotiations were finished. It had now been over a month since Oin had given her his diagnosis, and she had told no one. Thorin should be the first to find out. Finally there came a knock at the door, upon answering it she found Tauriel waiting for her.

"The company had been sighted. They are about a mile and a half out." Tauriel said and Mary breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go then!" Mary said and almost left at a run.

"Whoa! Slow down! They won't be here for at least thirty more minutes!" Tauriel said laughing.

* * *

Mary arrived in the main hall and waited anxiously for the company to arrive. It seem like years since she had last seen Thorin, instead of just a month and a half. Finally the gates opened and the company walked in and Mary could not wait any longer. She ran forward and threw herself into Thorin's arms. He caught her and held her close, laughing at her enthusiastic welcome.

"I've missed you." Mary said.

"Not more than I you." Thorin replied, "We need to talk. There is something I need to tell you."

He sounded so serious that Mary was sure something was wrong.

"There is something important that I need to tell you as well." She said and they left the welcoming crowds and went to the tower room where they were guaranteed privacy.

"What do you need to tell me?" Mary asked, wanting to get whatever bad news there was out of the way first.

"No, you first. What I have to say in going to take a while." Thorin replied.

Mary nodded and took a deep breath.

"Well, I went and saw Oin like you asked. He said he is certain what is going on." Mary said and looked at Thorin, "I am with child."

Thorin looked silently at her for a moment and Mary was scared that he was not happy.

"He is certain?" Thorin asked quietly.

"Yes." Mary replied worriedly.

Suddenly Thorin pulled her close and kissed her passionately.

Mary smiled when he finally drew back.

"I am guessing this means you are happy about the baby." She said breathlessly.

"You just made me the happiest man in Middle Earth!" he answered, still holding her close.

Thorin lifted his hand and caressed her cheek.

"How far along does he think you are and when does our great healer think we can expect our new arrival? Thorin said smiling.

"Well Oin figures that I am around two months. As for around when we can expect the baby to come, that is a little tricky considering my lineage. But since I am mostly elf and dwarf, and elf pregnancies last around ten months and dwarf around twelve months. A safe figure should be around eleven months. So in around nine more months." Mary answered happily.

"Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?" he asked gently.

"A boy. An heir for the line of Durin. We can try for a girl next time." Mary answered with a smile.

Thorin chuckled at her answer, "Planning ahead now are we?" he asked.

Mary looked up at him and smiled.

"Now you said you had something you needed to talk to me about." She reminded him.

Thorin looked at her and she could tell it was something bad.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"The reason I was called to the Iron Hills is that Dain needs us to host the meeting of the seven dwarf lords and their magistrates. They had some bad storms in the Iron Hills and his halls were damaged and he cannot accommodate the meeting. Mary, Dain's magistrate Den is going to be coming with him." Thorin told her.

Mary leaned back and looked at him in shock.

"No! No! They can't be coming here!" she said, fear overwhelming her. "That man and his son cannot be coming here!"

Thorin pulled her back into his arms and tried to calm her.

"No, only Den is coming. I told Dain that Don was not allowed to step a foot in Erebor. But I could not get him to leave Den out. He's the head magistrate for the eastern part of the Iron Hills and no one else can come. Dain agreed, apparently Don has a bad reputation in Dain's court and is not welcome. I am going to keep you safe! That man will never touch you again, not if I can help it!" Thorin explained.

"Safe! There is no safe for me or our family around either of them!" Mary pleaded.

Thorin cradled her face in his hands and made her look at him.

"A plan had already been made. The meeting is in eight months. Our family will be safe! You, the children, your parents and everyone will not be alone while he is here. You will be with me whenever possible. And when I cannot be with you, Kili is talking with Tauriel to stay with you. Gloin's son Gimli is also going to be shadowing you. Dwalin and several members of his troop are going to be watching over the rest of the family. You know he will not let any harm come to them. Especially the children." Thorin explained, finally getting Mary to calm down and listen.

She knew that Dwalin would keep her family safe, as he had grown close to the children. They even referred to him as Uncle Dwalin. Mary nodded and took a couple of deep breaths.

"I am so scared." She admitted.

"I know, but I will protect you. Please trust me to keep our family safe." Thorin said and he held Mary close as she began to cry.

What had supposed to have been a happy night was now a night filled with fear and foreboding.


	22. (22) Fear

Over the next eight months, Mary concentrated on preparing the nursery for the coming baby. Not wanting to think about the coming meeting of the dwarf lords and those coming with them. A week before the meeting, Thorin found her in the nursery sorting through the various gifts that had been given by the people of Erebor. Everyone had been overjoyed by the announcement of a possible heir being born and gifts, some practical and others not so much, started to arrive. One was an adorable small green tunic and trousers that Becky had made while another was a full size battle ax from Nori.

Mary, shocked by this, said "Thank you Nori, but an ax for a baby?"

Nori just shrugged his shoulders and said "One day he will learn to use it."

Thorin on the other had asked him where he got it and Nori, looking a bit offended, said, "I actually bought it, Thorin!"

Mary hid a smirk at this exchange, because you never knew with Nori.

"So how is everything coming along?" Thorin asked pulling Mary out of her reverie over the gifts.

"Good, I think. Dori was here earlier. He did not seem too happy about the ax Nori gave the baby. When he left he said something about his brother being a block head that knew nothing about babies." Mary said with a smile.

Thorin chucked, "Dori will never change. Ever since Balin took Ori to Moria, he has not had anyone to be a mother hen over so be prepared, I think the baby maybe his next target."

Mary joined him in laughing as Thorin bent to help her to her feet.

"And how is your preparations coming?" Mary asked.

Thorin had told her that Den was going to be placed in apartments that were as far away from theirs as to not be insulting to Dain and would be on constant watch while the meeting was going on.

"Good, I think we will be ready in time. But there is something I want to talk to you about." Thorin said as he led Mary out of the nursery and into the sitting room.

There on a table next to the sofa was her two boot daggers, Thorn and Briar. Mary stared at them for a second. I had been over two years since she had felt the need to carry and kind of weapons inside the city. When she ventured outside the mountain she still carried her bow and arrows. Mary turned to Thorin with a questioning look.

"I have had them sharpened and I want you to carry them with you wherever you go while that dwarf is here. Just to be safe." Thorin said, looking very serious.

Mary nodded and picked them up, not liking how foreign they felt in her hands.

* * *

The morning the dwarf lords were to arrive dawned earlier than Mary would have liked. Thorin got up early and went down to make sure everything was ready. When he came back he found Mary sitting at her dressing table with her head in her hands. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her. He could feel that she was shaking violently.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"No, I don't think I can do this." Mary said in a frightened voice.

Thorin felt his heart break at the fear in her voice. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around on the bench.

"Yes you can. You want to know why? Because I have seen the tough woman you are. You are a woman who even though you knew it was near impossible still managed to get in here nearly undetected. Stood you own against a seasoned warrior, managed to make him look like a complete fool, and get away. Left the same warrior tacked to a tree for a couple of hours. And even after you were caught and in a prison cell, you still had the courage to stand up to me as there were no bars between us." Thorin said emphatically, cupping her chin and raising her eyes to meet his."

"Now it is time for you to show that poor excuse for a dwarf that you are not afraid of him, or his son, anymore! You are Queen of Erebor, you have no reason to fear anyone anymore!" Thorin said firmly and looking into her eyes was pleased to see her calming down.

Mary looked back at him and saw the strength that she needed to get through these next two weeks shining right there in his eyes.

She gave him a tremulous smile and said, "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

Thorin chucked, embracing her, "Yes, but I still love to hear it."

After this Mary prepared herself to go down and stand by her husband as he greeted and welcomed the dwarf lords and their magistrates.

* * *

"Ug! This procession is taking forever!" Mary sighed to herself, trying not to think about her sore feet and back.

"King Dain of the Iron Hills." Mary heard the court announcer say and stiffened.

Thorin, noticing her sudden tenseness, reached over and briefly took her hand. Mary nodded at him without taking her eyes off the procession of dwarves that were making their way down the walkway of the throne room. King Dain was a large dwarf with bright red hair and beard and brown eyes. Thorin stepped forward and greeted his cousin warmly.

The he motioned for Mary to join him and said, "My wife and queen, Mary Sapphire."

Mary inclined her head politely to King Dain and smiled.

"Well it's good to finally meet the woman that settled this hard headed cousin of mine down." Dain said with a smile and Thorin groaned and rolled his eyes.

Mary was smiling at the warm, jovial jesting between the cousins when a movement over Dain's shoulder caught her attention. Looking over his shoulder. Mary froze when she made eye contact with Den. He was not a tall dwarf, but what he did not have in height he made up for in width. He had steel gray hair and beard and eyes that Mary only would have described as black as death. He continued to look at Mary coldly, even after introductions were made by Dain.

"My Lady." Den practically sneered, with only the slightest inclination of his head.

"Lord Den." Mary said back coldly, grateful for the full skirt on her dress as she felt her knees start to shake.

Thorin stepped back beside he and pulled her arm through his and Mary smiled at him in gratitude, knowing that if he had not been there to give her strength that she would have ran for the door the minute King Dain had been announced. With the Dain's arrival the procession ended and Thorin suggested that all the Lords be shown to their rooms to rest before the welcoming feast tonight.

Thorin then turned to Mary a said, "I think you should get some rest too."

And led her back toward their apartments. All the way out of the throne room, Mary could swear that she felt Den's hateful gaze on her back until the door closed behind them.


	23. (23) The meeting

"You alright?" Thorin asked when they reached their apartments, concern showing in his eyes.

"Yes, that went better than I expected. I think I am just going to lie down for a little bit." Mary answered, praying that he did not know just how frightened seeing Den had made her.

Thorin nodded and helped her out of her dress and into bed. He then sat in a chair by the bed and looked at her and Mary knew she was not fooling him.

"You don't have to attend the feast tonight, with the babe so close people would understand if you want to rest." Thorin said, trying to give her a way out.

"Thank you, but no. You are right, it's time for me to stop running. I am through hiding from this man and his son." Mary said.

Thorin looked at her and Mary could see a wealth of love and pride in his eyes. He picked up her hand and stroked her knuckles.

"Rest. It's going to be a long evening." He said and Mary closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Later that evening, the feast was in full swing and everyone was enjoying themselves. Mary and Thorin were making rounds, talking to the visiting nobles and trying to play good hosts. Whenever Thorin was not by her side, Mary was very much aware of Gimli shadowing her every move. He was much like his father in both appearance and voice, but turned out to have a much more jovial personality. Mary had just finished talking to a visiting noble woman and was walking back toward her seat when she heard a voice behind her.

"So, enjoying your new home?" the voice said snidely and Mary turned to see Den standing behind her.

The look on his face was anything but pleasant.

"Yes my family is very happy here, Lord Den ." Mary replied, trying to be civil.

"That's good. At least your family gets to be together, while my son is exiled away from a meeting that he should be allowed to attend by his birthright!" Den snarled angrily, glaring at her.

"I think this conversation in done." Mary said and tried to walk past him.

But he suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Let go!" Mary said and tried to pull away.

"I don't know how you managed to so ingrate yourself to Oakenshield or how you managed to pull yourself out of the gutter that you and your family belong in. But no matter what your title may be now, you need to remember that you are nothing but a filthy half-breed and I will make sure that you pay for this insult to my son!" Den said viciously.

Mary tried again to pull her arm out of his grasp, suddenly noticing that Den was now looking over her shoulder and knew that Gimli has stepped up behind her.

"You want to repeat what you just said?" Thorin growled from over Den's shoulder and I broke eye contact with Den and looked at Thorin in relief.

"You had best take you hand off my wife, unless you want to lose it." Thorin said in a deceptively calm voice.

Den let her go and turned to face Thorin.

"King Thorin…" he stammered but Thorin cut him off.

"You come near her again and your son won't be the only one exiled from here!" Thorin threatened, "Now I think you should return to your rooms before my good grace wears out."

Den nodded and scurried away, but not before shooting Mary a hate filled glare.

"My Lord, I am sorry. I just lost sight of her for a second." Gimli was trying to say.

Thorin just waved him off and said, "It's not your fault Gimli. That snake would have found a way, even if there was a whole troop here."

He then took Mary's hand a led her back to her seat.

"I'm alright, just a little shaken up." Mary tried to reassure him.

Thorin just nodded and sat down beside her.

"Maybe you should just take a rest for a little while." He said.

Mary smiled at him and his ability to see though the strong façade that she was trying to put up. He smiled back and patted her hand. As relieved as she was that Den was no longer at the feast, Mary could think of nothing better at the moment than leaving and climbing into a hot bath. Fortunately, it was not long before she was able to climb the stairs and seek her rest. Thankful that tomorrow would be an easier day, as she would be entertaining the ladies that had come instead of hosting a feast.

* * *

The next week and a half went by smoothly, if slowly. Thorin was busy with the different meetings and Mary was entertaining the ladies. With only two days left in the meetings, Mary found herself free for one day as some of the ladies wanted to go to the market while others had other interests that they wanted to pursue. She met up with Becky and Tauriel and they decided to take Mary's niece and nephews along with little Fili and Becky's daughter Lily out to the southwest meadow for some fresh air. Kaylah seemed very relieved by this, as her a Donald were tired and needed a break. The women grabbed a picnic lunch and headed for the meadow with all five children in tow.

What followed was a pleasant afternoon filled with childish laughter and games. It was almost time for lunch when Aaron informed Mary that her needed to be excused.

Tauriel offered to take him, but Mary said, "No, it's alright. I will just take him a short distance into the woods and be right back."

Tauriel look uncertain about Mary going alone, as she was with Tauriel and Becky there had been no need for Gimli to shadow her today.

"I will just be a few minutes." Mary assured her.

Tauriel finally nodded and Mary walked off into the woods.


	24. (24) Hunted

Mary walked a short distance into the woods, just out of sight of the group.

"Okay Aaron, do your business so we can go sit down to lunch." Mary said.

"Not here, everyone will see!" Aaron answered and ran farther down the trail.

Mary could not help but laugh.

"Come on Aaron, I am hungry and tired." She called, going after him.

"Okay, but turn around." He said and Mary rolled her eyes, wondering where the bold little boy she had known had gone.

"Okay." She said on a laugh and turned her back to Aaron as he darted into the bushes on the side of the trail.

As she waited, Mary started to feel uneasy as if someone was watching them. Looking around, she reached out with the intuition but all she got was the knowledge that they were not alone.

"Aaron, hurry up we need to get back." She said urgently, feeling more and more uneasy.

"Almost done." Came the answer.

Suddenly Mary got a sharp warning of danger and she said, "No! Now!" and darted into the bushes and grabbed Aaron's arm.

"Aunt Mary you made me get it on my boots." Aaron said looking down in what he was now stepping in.

"I am sorry Aaron, but we need to go now!" Mary answered pulling him back up the trail as quickly as his little legs would go.

"Aww leaving so soon." said a horribly familiar voice and Mary stopped and watched in horror as Don stepped out of the bushes ahead of them, cutting them off from the meadow and the others.

* * *

Tauriel kept looking down the trail that Mary and Aaron had disappeared down, feeling very uneasy as they had been gone for quite some time.

"I wonder what is taking them so long." She said.

"I don't know. Aaron has become quite shy about going with others around lately. Do you think we should go and make sure their okay?" Becky replied.

"I don't know. I just got a feeling…" Tauriel was saying but was cut off when a blood curdling scream split the air.

Tauriel jumped up and looked toward the woods.

"Becky, I need you to stay with the children." Tauriel said and then turned to Davon, "Davon, I need you to run to the mountain and get King Thorin and your father."

She instructed and, without waiting to see if the little boy did as told, ran off down the trail toward the scream.

* * *

Davon nodded and watched terrified as the red haired elf ran off after his aunt and brother.

"Davon, I want to go with you." His little sister said sounding scared.

"No Kaylee, you need to stay here and help Aunt Becky with Fili and Lily. I will be back, as soon as I can, with Uncle Thorin and Papa." He said and ran off for the mountain.

Even with his little legs running as fast as he could go, it still seemed to take forever for him to reach the mountain. Davon finally reached the gate and ran through, trying to figure out how to find Uncle Thorin. As luck would have it, just as he rounded a corner Davon literally ran smack into Uncle Dwalin.

"Whoa lad! Where are you off to in such a hurry? I thought you were with Becky, Tauriel and your aunt?" Dwalin asked grabbing the boy by the shoulders to keep him from falling.

"Tauriel told me to run for Uncle Thorin and Papa. Aunt Mary took Aaron into the woods to go potty, but did not come back. Tauriel ran after her because we heard her scream!" Davon gasped out, trying to catch his breath.

"Oh No!" Dwalin said, then he turned to the guards with him and ordered them to find Den and make sure he was escorted back to his rooms, as the meeting had just let out for lunch.

He then picked Davon up and put him on his back and ran to find Thorin.

* * *

Dwalin burst through the door to Thorin's study, making Thorin jump and glare at him, as he spilled ink all over the letter he was trying to write.

"Dwalin! What's the meaning of this?!" Thorin exclaimed before noticing Davon on Dwalin's back.

"Thorin you need to come quick. Something has happened to Mary." Dwalin said and Thorin stopped trying to clean up the ink.

Without even waiting for them he ran out the door.

"What happened?" he asked urgently as they made their way toward the main halls.

Davon told him what he had told Dwalin and Thorin clenched his fists in anger. As they had it to the main halls, they met up with the guards that had been with Dwalin. The guards informed them that Lord Den had been located and escorted back to his rooms and was still under guard, but was insisting that he knew nothing about what had happened to the Queen. Thorin then ordered the guards to go get Kili, Mary's Dad, and brothers, then ran for the southwest meadow, praying the whole way for the safety of his wife and unborn child.

* * *

Mary froze in absolute shock and horror.

"What are you doing here?! You are not allowed to be here!" she said as the shock wore off and she started to back away slowly, keeping Aaron securely behind her.

Don smiled at her evilly and took a few slow steps toward her. Mary knew she needed to find a way to distract him if she wanted to get Aaron away safely.

"What? Am I not allowed to come and express my congratulations to the new queen and soon to be mother to the line of Durin?" Don sneered sarcastically.

"Imagine my surprise when my little cousin comes home and tells me that a certain filthy half-breed got her and her husband banished from Erebor. Now I could not let that stand now could I." he growled as he continued to stalk her.

Aaron chose that moment to peek out from behind her and, upon seeing who Mary was talking to, gave a gasp of fear recognizing Don.

"Aunt Mary, why is the bad man here?" Aaron asked and Mary suddenly felt anger at the fear in his voice.

"This is not going to happen again!" she thought to herself.

Mary pulled herself up to her full height, such as it was, and gave Aaron a slight push sending him back down the trail.

She then looked Don right in the eye and said, with as much authority as she could muster, "I am Queen here and I am telling you to leave!"

Don just looked at her and laughed.

"I don't think so! You are going to pay for all the insults that you have caused to my family!" Don said, advancing on her.

He suddenly dove at her and Mary dodged away with a loud, blood curdling, scream and ran back down the trail.

"Aunt Mary!" she heard Aaron call from a bush and she ran toward him.

Mary ran behind the bush, which turned out to be the same one that Aaron had used just a few minutes ago, just as Don grabbed the back of her dress causing her to stumble. Aaron popped up from behind the bush and threw something that Mary was sure was **_not_** mud in Don's face. Don shouted and cursed at the little boy when the mess hit him, giving Mary the chance to turn and kick him in the gut. She then grabbed Aaron's arm and ran deeper into the woods. Mary pulled them behind a thick strand of bushes and tried to think. She could still hear Don yelling and cursing in the distance and came to the horrible conclusion that if she did not distract Don, he would most likely catch and torture both of them. She looked at Aaron with tears in her eyes and put a hand on his head.

"Aaron, my brave little man, I need you to do something." She said as she pulled Briar out of her boot, sheath and all, and handed it to Aaron.

"I need you to run for the meadow, while I distract him. You need to get to safety and find help. Use the dagger if you have to, but get yourself to safety!" she told him.

"Aunt Mary, no! I can't leave you out here with the bad man!" Aaron cried with tears running down his face.

"Aaron, this is the only way." Mary said quickly, hearing Don getting closer, "Go! NOW!" she said and pushed the little boy in the opposite direction from which she was going to lead Don.

Aaron looked like he was going to argue but, with a look from Mary, nodded turned and ran the direction that Mary sent him. Mary watched and waited, to make sure Aaron had not been seen, then took a deep breath and broke cover. As she ran, she heard the exact moment that Don spotted her and began to chase her.

* * *

Aaron stumbled through the bushes and underbrush, clutching the dagger that his aunt had given him. He had not wanted to leave Aunt Mary there to face the bad man all alone, but she had told him to go. He needed to get back to Aunt Becky and Aunt Tauriel, to find Aunt Mary some help before the bad man caught her! He had not been running long, maybe ten minutes, when he heard someone coming thought the bushes to his left. He took out the dagger and held it in front of him, just like Papa had shown him. Suddenly Aunt Tauriel stepped out of the bushes, with her bow and arrow.

"Aunt Tauriel!" he cried, "The bad man is after Aunt Mary!"

Aaron ran over to her with tears running down his face.

"The bad man?" she questioned.

"The man that hurt her and Kaylee before!" he explained.

Tauriel looked at him stunned.

"Tauriel!" she heard Kili call frantically.

"Over here." she answered and shortly after was joined by Thorin, Dwalin, Kili, Mary's Dad, her brothers and a few guards.

Thorin, seeing the dagger in Aaron's hand, knelt down in front of him and took it.

"This is Briar, your aunt's dagger." Thorin stated.

Aaron nodded, "She gave it to me because the bad man was chasing us and she said I needed to get to the meadow and find help. He's still chasing her!"

"Which way?" Thorin asked and after Aaron told him, he had some the guards take him back to the meadow to wait with Becky and the rest of the children.

"The bad man?" Thorin asked Mary's dad after Aaron had left.

"He means Don! Aaron was so young when the incident happened that that was the only way he was able to describe him." Dad said, sounding very worried and angry.

"Oh gods, that means he is here and after her again!" Donald stated worriedly and they all took off into the forest again, following Aaron's trail through the bushes.

* * *

Mary, again, ducked behind some bushes trying to catch her breath. She could not believe what was happening. Here she was ten months pregnant, starting to rival Silver Mist for size, and being chased through the woods by a maniac! She looked around and could not see Don anywhere, so she leaned back against a tree to catch her breath. But the danger warning from the intuition caught her attention too late. As a large hand suddenly flew around the tree and grabbed her tightly around the throat! She was then pulled out of her hiding place and found herself face to face with Don. With his black hair and beard and the crazed look in his black eyes, Mary thought he looked like a very foul demon come from the fiery depths of Mordor.

"And you thought you could get away." He sneered, tightening his hand around her throat making it difficult for her to breathe.

At that moment Mary did the only thing she could think of: Kicked him as hard as she could in the groin! He groaned and started to slump down and as his hand started to loosen on her throat, Mary pushed at him to get away. But his hand grabbed the front of her dress and he back handed her across the face. Mary curled into a ball as she fell, trying to protect the life within her and focusing on staying conscious. As she rolled a way, she closed her hand over a large rock and when he grabbed her again she swung around and hit him in the jaw with it. Don swore and pushed her down and Mary's head hit something hard and she felt something warm and sticky start to coat her hair: blood she realized. Her vision swum before her eyes and before she could get up he was on her again, choking her.

"This is how I am going to die!" she thought, feeling her strength leave her even as she continued to fight.

Suddenly there was movement and noise in the bushes behind them and Don pulled her up to her knees in front of him. Standing behind her, her grabbed a handful of her hair and put a dagger to her throat just as Thorin and the others burst from the bushes. Mary looked at them and felt fear. Fear that they had arrived just in time to watch her die.

"Thorin." She whispered, feeling on the verge of passing out.

"Let her go!" Thorin demanded, but Don just laughed at him.

"Oh, you want me to let her go do you? Is this filthy half-breed really that important to you?" Don taunted pressing the dagger closer to her throat.

Mary could feel the sting of the blade and the warm feeling of blood running down her neck. It was just a small cut, but Mary could tell that Thorin saw it too from the murderous look on his face.

"Now what are you going to do?" Don continued to insanely taunt them, "Nothing! But watch her die!"

Thorin took a threatening step toward him with his sword raised.

"Ah, careful King Under the Mountain. We would not want this blade to slip now would we?" Don said.

Mary saw Thorin stop and also saw the helpless desperation in his eyes. She knew that she somehow had to get herself out of the way. Suddenly an idea came to her clouded conscious, she still had another boot dagger. She slowly moved her hand into her boot and closed her fingers around Thorn. Don tightened his fingers in her hair causing her to gasp in pain as it pulled at the wound on her head.

"You should have listened to the warnings and stayed away!" Don whispered in her ear.

"No! It's you who should have listened to my warning!" she answered back quietly.

"What!" he said pressing the blade even closer.

"I warned you that if you ever touched me again you would regret it!" Mary said and, before he could move, plunged Thorn deep into his leg.

Don screamed and dropped his dagger to try and pull hers out of his leg. Thorin dove at him and pushed Don away from her. Mary tried to roll out of the way, but the last thing she could remember was something hard hitting her temple then all she knew was darkness.


	25. (25) Arrivals

As soon as Don dropped the dagger, Thorin dove at him and pushed him away from Mary. Unfortunately one of Don's feet shot out and kicked Mary in the side of the head as he went down. Tauriel rushed forward and drug Mary out of the way. Thanking the Valar that she had been trained in healing and seeing that Mary was now unconscious, she checked her breathing and heartbeat. Tauriel new that they had to get her back to Oin, for there could be injuries that she could not see beyond the wound to her head and the dark bruises that were starting to appear on her face and throat.

"Thorin!" Tauriel called and looked over at the king, who was still whaling on Don.

"Dwalin!" Tauriel called and made a motion toward Mary and then Thorin.

Thankfully Dwalin got the hint and rushed forward to grab Thorin. Unfortunately for Don it took Dwalin, Kili, Donald, Joseph and Mary's dad to pull Thorin off of him.

"Thorin!" Dwalin yelled in his ear, finally getting his attention, "Mary is hurt, you need to get her back to the mountain!"

Thorin took and deep breath and shook them off of him, he then glared down at Don, who was now also unconscious, and spat out, "Get this piece of garbage out of my sight!"

He then turned and bent down to look at Mary. He cupped the side of her face and gently whispered her name, trying to wake her. But when she did not respond, his worry for her and his anger at Don doubled.

"Donald. Joseph. Run back to the mountain and get a wagon. We will meet you in the meadow." Thorin ordered the two brothers and as they ran off, he gently picked Mary up and cradled her head against his chest.

They then turned and headed back to the meadow.

* * *

As Mary began to slowly wake, the first thing she knew was pain. Pain in her head, pain in her neck and, strangely, excruciating pain in her lower back and stomach. She did not remember getting stuck there, but the pain kept growing. She tried to roll on her side, hoping this would ease the pain, and groaned.

"Mary?!" she heard Thorin call, and suddenly he was right beside her.

She opened her eyes and noticed that she was in the meadow and that everyone was gathered around her. Horrible waves of pain hit her again and she gasped.

"What's wrong?" Thorin asked, and Mary could hear the worry in his voice, "Where does it hurt?"

Mary looked at him and said "My stomach."

Thorin called for Becky, who we need came over and examined her.

Becky gave Thorin a worried look and said, "We need to get her back to the city immediately! She's in labor!"

Thorin looked stunned and Mary gasped out, "No it's not time!"

Thorin shook his head, "The baby can't be coming! It's too soon!" he said looking down at Mary with worry.

"Well I guess he has his mother's impatient personality. Because too soon or not, that baby is coming NOW!" Becky's urgent tone finally got through the Thorin's shock.

"We need to get her back!" he said and bent to pick her up.

Walking as carefully as he could, so as not to jostle Mary, Thorin swore and yelled, "Where is that wagon!"

Mary looked up at Thorin in fear and tried not to move as another wave of pain hit her. She did not want to make it any harder for him, if he had to carry her all the way back.

"The baby can't be coming now! He is not supposed to come for another month!" She thought, terrified that something was wrong.

"There they are!" Mary heard her dad say as he spotted her brothers coming with the wagon. It was not long before they had her laid down in the back and Thorin sitting next to her.

* * *

They arrived back in Erebor to a flurry of concern and raised voices, as it seemed everyone had heard that something had happened. And a lot of people had seen the guards bringing back the unconscious Don. Thorin was easing Mary out of the wagon when a fresh wave of pain hit her. Mary gasped and would have fell to the floor of the stables if Thorin's arms had not been around her.

"Come let's get you back to our apartments." He said quietly in her ear and Mary nodded.

As Thorin helped her back to their room, Becky went running for Oin. Once back in their rooms, Thorin helped her out of her dress and into bed, then he grabbed a clean rag and got a bowl of water and cleaned the wound on her neck as they waited for the healers to come back. As the pain let up some, Mary reached out and placed her hand over Thorin's to get his attention.

"I am so sorry. I did exactly what you told me not to. I let myself be caught alone. I put us in danger." She said with tears running down her face.

"No! Don't you think like that! You listen to me! This is **_not_** your fault! You will not blame yourself. You hear me!" Thorin said firmly, cupping her chin and not letting her look away until she nodded.

He leaned down and placed his forehead against hers and said again, "This is not your fault."

Oin came in at that moment and examined her.

"The baby is indeed coming, my Lady. And coming fast!" he said and then turned to Becky and the other healers that were with him and gave them orders as to what to do.

A fresh wave of pain hit Mary and she cried out, Thorin took her hand and leaned close, whispering encouragement.

"I don't think I can so this!" Mary cried as another pain hit.

"Yes you can. I will be right here with you." Thorin reassured.

"You won't leave?" she asked.

"I'm right here." He reassured her again.

After that everything was just a haze of pain and Mary did not think it would never end.

"Come on, Mary. Just one more push!" she heard Becky say and a few minutes later she heard the cry of a baby and fell back against the pillows, exhausted.

"It's a boy!" she heard Oin say and she looked at Thorin.

Thorin looked her, then their child, with such happiness and love that it made her forget all about her injuries and pain for a moment. Becky came around the bed to get her cleaned up and said to Thorin, "Why don't you go meet your son, my King. I will only be a moment."

Thorin nodded and kissed Mary on the forehead and said, "I will be right back." Mary nodded, thinking that all she wanted to do was meet her son and then sleep.

But anything else she was planning on ding was washed away by another sharp pain that ran through her, causing her to cry out.

"Mary, what's wrong?" Becky asked, stopping what she was doing.

"It hurt!" was the only answer she got.

Becky examined her and gasped.

Then she yelled, "Oin! Get over here! Something is wrong!"

Oin, leaving the new prince with the other healers, rushed over with Thorin not far behind.

"What's wrong!" Thorin demanded.

Oin held up a hand to ask for silence as he ran his hand over Mary's stomach and muttered to himself, "This is not right. No! It can't be!"

Thorin looked at him, "What?!" he yelled.

"I did not think about it. It's very rare among dwarves! She is going to need your help. She still has more work to do. She is having twins!" Oin explained, looking very worried.

"What! That can't…" Thorin was saying but was cut off by Mary's cry of pain.

Thorin sat back down beside her and stared into her exhausted eyes.

"H-help me." She gasped as a new wave of pain washed over her.

"How can I help her?" Thorin asked Oin desperately.

"Pick her up and place her back against your chest. The leverage should help, since she has little strength left." He answered and Thorin did as told.

As the pain abated for a moment, Mary could not help but remember the night he had brought her the draught when she had been so sick. He had held her the exact same way. That memory was the last thought she had before the pain took over everything again.

"Come on, stay with me Mary! You can do this." Thorin kept whispering in her ear.

The last thing Mary heard was the cry of another baby, before the exhaustion pulled her down into unconsciousness. She did not even hear whether it was another boy or a girl.


	26. (26) Not a phantom anymore

As Mary woke, she could not ever remember being so sore. Groaning, she tried to move to find herself a more comfortable position and opened her eyes. At first she was shocked at how dark it was, it had still been early afternoon when Thorin had brought her up here and then the thought of her baby hit her and she tried even more fiercely to sit up. Before she had fallen unconscious she remembered Oin saying something was wrong. Something about twins, but that could not be right. She gave a small gasp as she got herself halfway up, only to fall back on the pillows as her strength gave out and suddenly a voice came from over by the window.

"Hey, you should not be getting up, you need to rest." Thorin said and moved over and sat on the bed next to her.

" How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Like I just tried to get between Bombur and dinner" Mary replied with a small smile.

Thorin chuckled and then put his arms around her and lifted her to a sitting position.

Mary looked at Thorin with a worried expression and asked "Our child?"

Thorin nodded to two cradles situated next to the low burning fireplace and smiled at her.

"I think you mean children and they are fine." He replied and Mary looked at him a little shocked.

"I thought I heard Oin say… I could not believe it though!" she stammered.

"The first babe was a boy I know, but the second?"Mary asked now with tears in her eyes.

Thorin gave her a tender smile and replied, "A girl."

Mary felt the tears start to fall freely down her face.

"And they **_are_** alright?" She asked needing reassurance.

"You fell unconscious just after the birth of our daughter, but Oin was able to find a wet nurse to feed them. They are sleeping and Oin says they are small but perfectly healthy." Thorin told her and Mary smile and leaned her heard against his shoulder.

Thorin pulled her more firmly into his embrace and held her for a few moments. Mary leaned back and looked at him.

"I want to get up and see them." She said.

Thorin nodded, knowing that here was no way he was keeping her in this bed, and helped her up and into a chair by the fire. Mary leaned over the cradles and looked at her two children. As she did a wave of love and fierce protectiveness swept over her. She smiled in noticing that they were both the spitting image of their father, both having his dark brown hair and dwarfish features. At that moment the young prince opened his eyes and Mary let out a surprised gasp.

"What?" Thorin asked.

"Hazel. His eyes are hazel."She said.

"Like his mother." Thorin said, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"What are we going to name them?" Mary asked.

"I was thinking Thoron for the boy." He answered, "I don't know about the girl."

Mary looked thoughtfully at her daughter for a moment.

"What about Aria?" She asked looking at him.

Thorin nodded, "Thoron and Aria. It fits."

* * *

After a couple of days recuperating, Mary started to feel like she was going stir crazy. One day, after the twins had been put down for a nap, Becky came to check on her.

"I am going stir crazy being cooped up in this room. I am not even able to put my own children down for naps in their nursery." Mary complained, from the bed that Thorin had threatened to tie her to if she did not stay in it.

"You need your rest!" Becky replied checking the bandage on her neck.

Mary grumbled, "I am fine. This is only a scratch. I have cut myself worse sharpening my arrows!"

Becky looked at her with her hands on her hips.

"You were not four days ago chased thought the woods and almost killed by a crazed maniac and then gave birth to twins. You need to recuperate. Now you are either going to cooperate or I will knock you out myself!" Becky retorted and Mary huffed and leaned back against the pillow and muttered something uncomplimentary in elfish.

"I am going to pretend like I did not hear that. Anyway, Don and Den are still here. Thorin wants to make sure you are kept safe." Becky said.

Mary sighed, "When's the hearing?" she asked, no matter what they said she was going to it!

She was done running from those two!

Becky smiled evilly and replied, "Whenever Don finally wakes up!" and Mary gave her a confused look.

"Thorin gave him a pretty good beating and he still has not regained consciousness." she explained.

* * *

A few days later Don finally awoke and when he was able to leave his bed, Thorin had him brought before the council to pronounce sentence. Thorin was ready to sentence him to death for attacking Mary, but a few days before she talked him out of it.

"Thorin, I do not want his blood on your hands. I would not want you sullied in that manner. He is not worth it." She had explained.

So in front of the council, Thorin pronounced Don's sentence.

"Don son of Den, you are here to answer for attacking Mary Sapphire, Queen of Erebor. Your guilt is unquestionable and deserving of death. But the Queen has wisely recommended mercy and I have agreed. Your are not worth allowing your blood to stain the rocks of Erebor. You are hereby sentenced to 60 years labor in the mines of Moria, as Lord Balin has need of more workers to continue the restoration of that city. You are to be escorted there immediately and after your time is served you are never to set foot within Erebor territory." Thorin pronounced and Don was led away.

Den, it was revealed, after intense questioning by King Dain, did know that Don had been in the forests around Erebor but denied any knowledge of what he had been planning.

King Dain took it upon himself to pronounce sentence upon Den.

"Den you have been my magistrate for many years and I thought that your area of the Iron Hills was flourishing under your leadership. I have now received word that this was not the only time your son has harmed someone. Most disturbingly, is the news that you have covered up not only his previous attack on Mary Sapphire but also other women. I cannot trust you in your place anymore, as now I see that your judgments are nothing but harmful. I hereby strip you of the title of magistrate and seeing as you have no other heir, the title will pass to whom I deem worthy. Also for disobeying my orders concerning your son not being allowed to come to Erebor, you are now ordered banished from the Iron Hills. You will be given leave to return now to gather what you need and then you are to leave." Dain decreed.

"You are also to never set foot in Erebor again!" Thorin added.

Don left then, looking completely broken and Mary breathed a sigh of relief, the nightmare was finally over and she could now enjoy her life with her husband and children without looking over her shoulder.

* * *

A few hours later, Thorin found her in the Tower room watching as the dwarf lords dispersed down their separate ways to their homes. He walked over and put his arms around her from behind and Mary leaned back into his embrace.

"You alright?" he asked, not liking seeing the bruises that still colored her fair skin.

"I am now." She answered.

Mary turned and put her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"It's finally over." Mary whispered and then smiled.

Looking down, Thorin caught sight of the smile and asked, "Smiling about anything in particular?"

Mary shook her head and answered , "Just thinking about the crazy journey that led us here. Who would have thought a venture into a mountain, to commit theft, by what many thought was a phantom, would have led to a life of love and joy."

Thorin smiled and cupped her cheek, "There is only one thing you have wrong." He said and Mary looked at him questioningly.

"You're not a phantom anymore." He said.

* * *

**Well that's it! It's finished! YAY! Thank you to all of you who were so faithful in reviewing my story. The constructive criticisms were very helpful and the enthusiasm really helped. Thanks in particular to Fifekun, Dragynfyre18, Jo, AlliBaba, Jessiekat89 and Eclaire Stones for your encouraging reviews and Thank you to Rousdower who is currently Betaing this story!**

**Hope everyone liked it, please review and I am working on a new story called Firebringer. Now that this on is done that one will move forward. **


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